Choosing Each Other (Human AU!)
by HarmonyDove13
Summary: This will be a collection of human Broppy moments based on my personal experiences or plotlines on TV shows or whatever in chronological order. The first one is just something to get the story started, but I hope you like it anyway! :) (Rated T just to be safe.) (A lot less fluffy than it sounds/my other work.) Hiatus
1. Beginnings

**Okay, so this is my first human AU. At first it was just gonna be a bunch of fluffy oneshots (my specialty, if you haven't already noticed) based on pop culture, real-life experience, and some OTP prompts I've found in various places that I feel would better suit humans. I still might do that in another story. But for now, it's pretty much just gonna be human Broppy's random fluff scenes based on real life or any other idea that pops into my head, in chronological order. Anyhow, this is just the first installment to get the story going . . . sorry that it's a little cliche. Tell me what you think in the reviews! :)**

**Oh, speaking of emoticons, there is a little texting in this story. I'd prefer using emojis, which Google Docs has, but I'm not sure they'll go through, so I'm using emoticons instead. I'll let you get to reading.**

* * *

"Alright, everyone," came the gentle, calming voice of Sunny Willows High School science teacher, Cybil. The teacher's eyes were closed as she stood in a yoga pose in front of her classroom. "Breathe deeply . . ."

The giggles coming from the school's power couple were enough to snap Branch out of his trance—or rather, they would have been, had he been in one. This whole zen thing was irritating, and Poppy and Creek were just making it worse. He shot them a glare, which they didn't see because they were too busy fooling around. "Boop!" Poppy whispered, poking her boyfriend's nose, and they erupted into giggles. Creek returned it: "Boop!"

Branch rolled his eyes, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair. All around the room, students' eyes were closed. The high schoolers of Sunny Willows were, for the most part, cheerful and willing students. Of course, they were still high schoolers: energetic, rambunctious, but they didn't do much boundary-testing the way most other teens did.

That part was great. If they could only be serious about their work—or the rest of their lives—Branch would be satisfied.

As was, he gave a quiet sigh, not wanting to alert his teacher that he wasn't doing her exercise. Not that she would ever really punish him for it. The worst part would be Poppy and Creek's reactions, as well as, probably, the rest of the class'. But really, couldn't they ever do real science for once? Cybil was a great yogi, but she was not qualified to teach science, no matter what the school said.

After what seemed like forever, the teacher opened her eyes. "Open your eyes to reconnect with the world."

_Or because this is science class and not naptime_, Branch thought bitterly. He had a C+ in science for a reason that was unknown to him (probably his "negative energy" and hippie teacher—her students didn't even know her last name), and if they never did any science, he wouldn't be able to raise it.

Once all the students had opened their eyes, Cybil smiled at them, as though standing there with her eyes closed for ten minutes had made her the happiest teacher in the world. "Now that we've meditated, I have a project for you. You'll need a partner."

Great. A partner. Branch raised his hand—

"You cannot work alone," added Cybil. "I sensed your question in the air, Branch." It was almost like she expected to be praised for anticipating his question.

"Or maybe you guessed it because it's what I ask every time," he muttered under his breath.

"Don't question the power of zen," Creek said from the row of desks in front of him. His voice was irritatingly calm, and the smug little smile he wore was worse. Worse than the smile was the dreamy smile and giggle that adorable, pink-haired Poppy gave the jerk.

Branch rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the turquoise-haired boy. Most SWHS teens had brightly colored hair, all because of the trend Poppy had started when she'd started high school and become popular—done while sporting bright pink hair. Personally, he thought his black hair was fine. Better, even, than pointless and distracting colored hair.

"Your project is to create a display that fully, neatly explains the cell theory, the cell's structure and function, and cell division. The best animal cell project and the best plant cell project will be sent to Sunny Willows Middle School students to be used for study. But remember: it's not a competition. All of your projects will be great."

_Mine will be, at least_, Branch thought. Good handwriting, a neat project, and hard facts—that was all he needed to raise his grade in science. Luckily, those three things were his strong suits.

In front of him, Poppy and Creek were already chattering about what their project would be.

"Oh, and to help you socialize beyond your comfort zone, I'll be assigning the partner pairs," said Cybil, who had gone back into a tree pose with her eyes closed.

Whatever. It wouldn't be enjoyable, but Branch could tolerate working with a partner. It would be annoying, but it had happened before. He'd be fine, as long as he didn't have to work with Creek or—

"Poppy, you'll be working with Branch," announced Cybil.

Branch could practically feel her smile falter. "Oh. But—"

"Poppy and myself were actually planning on working together, if you don't mind, Cybil," Creek said in that smooth, calm voice of his. It was all Branch could do not to punch the guy in the face.

"My deepest apologies, Creek," said their teacher, "but this is what Principal Gumdrop wanted us to do. You'll be paired with Dennis."

Creek shot a glance across the room at their resident theater nerd, who returned his gaze with a cheerful wave. "Are you sure there's not an arrangement that can be made? Branch can be paired with Dennis—"

"Exactly!" Branch blurted out, hating how desperate he sounded and hating how willing he was to agree with Creek. His feelings toward Poppy could not be categorized with a single word, but he knew he could not be paired with her. Period.

"Creek," said Cybil. "I know you, son of the earth. You must not resist change. Go with the flow, and life will be good to you. Resist, and the universe will resist you."

Branch rolled his eyes, but at least it shut Creek up.

"So . . . I'm partnering with Branch?" Poppy asked, just for confirmation.

"Yes, dear Poppy," replied Cybil tranquilly.

"Okay!" she said, bright and perky once more. But Branch could read her tone: it was more than a little forced.

"Now that we've settled the issue and the universe is once more in balance . . ." Cybil said, smiling at her students. "Everyone, come look at this list and begin to brainstorm with your partners."

Most of the class, cheerfully chattering amongst themselves, got up to see the list and find their partners. Branch, on the other hand, stayed in his seat with his arms crossed, wearing a scowl on his face.

In front of him, Poppy and Creek stood up as Dennis walked over. Poppy smiled at Branch, ready to join him, but Creek grabbed her arm and whispered something to her that Branch couldn't hear—something that was evidently about the dark-haired boy, from the way Creek kept side-eyeing him.

Poppy listened closely to what Creek was saying, then nodded and looked up at him with a grateful smile. She threw her arms around him and gave him a hug, kicking her leg up behind her, then left for Branch's desk.

Grinning, she pulled a chair up to the empty desk on Branch's right. "Hey, Branch!" she said, resting an arm on his shoulder. "How're you doing on this fine day?"

Poppy's skin on his neck sent a shiver down his spine, too quickly to suppress. "Not great," he muttered, refusing to look at her.

"Hmm, now that you mention it, it is kind of cold in here," she said, pulling her arm back and wrapping it around herself. "Eh, we both have lunch next, right? It's always warm in the lunchroom."

Branch glanced at her. "Uh, yeah. We should work on our project—we've only got a couple minutes of class left."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Well, if you say so, Branch. I don't really see the harm in playing around for a couple more minutes!"

"That's because you never see the harm in anything!" said Branch, his voice sarcastically bright.

Poppy giggled. "Well, at least it's better than how you see the nonexistent harm in everything."

The fact that she wasn't serious as she said it only made it worse.

Her partner bit his lip, irritated. "Can we just get on with the project? The sooner we get started, the sooner we finish, and the sooner we can go back to never talking."

She frowned, an adorable pout on her face. "I talk to you."

"Fine. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can go back to you pretending to like me just to pester me all the time. Satisfied?" He looked away, unable to stand the way she flaunted her pink bottom lip in her pouty face.

"Not really," she replied, shaking her head. "You know, what you should have said is, 'The sooner we finish, the sooner you can go back to doing projects with Creek.'"

"You know, I don't care about your love life enough to say something like that," retorted Branch. He looked back at Poppy just in time to see her face match her hair color.

"You—I mean—" She took a deep breath. "I don't love Creek," she managed to get out, but her words were nothing more than a squeak.

Branch smirked. "Sure," he said, making it clear he wasn't convinced. He never would be.

She took a lock of her long pink ponytail in her fingers and began to twirl it, a nervous habit if he'd ever seen one. "Do you think he likes me back?" she said quietly, glancing at her boyfriend—or whatever—across the room.

Branch bit his tongue, taking a moment to respond. "Thought you didn't like him," he finally replied.

She smacked his arm lightly. "Branch! Not so loud!" she whispered fiercely.

The dark-haired teenager raised an eyebrow at her and glanced across the science classroom. "He can't hear us, Poppy," he said, a sarcastic smile on his face.

The mayor's daughter shot him an unimpressed look, opening her mouth to say something—

The bell rang.

Branch groaned, grabbing his books. "We didn't even get started on the project!"

"Don't worry! We can text about it later. Here, give me your phone—I'll put in my number."

Her partner sighed as he handed over his phone after putting in his passcode.

She took it and started typing. Branch wasn't the type of guy who was used to exchanging phone numbers with anyone—the orphanage he'd had to live in since he was six was one of the only contacts—but she seemed to be taking a long time just to type in a phone number. (Even for her; he'd already deleted her phone number from his phone a couple of times after having to use it for other projects.)

They were the only two students left in the classroom (even Creek had left to go to lunch) when she held up the phone as though taking a selfie.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Branch asked, moving to look at the screen. She was taking a selfie.

"For contacts," she said as though it was obvious. "Do you have any filters?"

"No, why would I have that?" Branch said, snatching his phone back out of her hand.

"Hey, I haven't added it to my contact yet!" she said, whirling around to face him.

"All I need is your initials to know who you are, okay? Pictures don't matter."

"Pictures—!" She cut herself off and sighed. "Okay, fine, just please add that one? Please?"

He rolled his eyes, but couldn't avoid the adorable face she was making. "Fine."

"Yay!" She threw her arms around his neck and kicked her leg up in a hug. "Thanks, Branch!" She pulled back. "Send me a picture of yourself when we text later, okay? See ya!" She bounded right out of the door.

Branch rolled his eyes again as he headed for the door himself.

* * *

"I'm going to go lead a meditation class in the library today, alright? Alright," Creek said calmly, standing up from the lunch table almost as soon as he'd sat down.

"Okay! We'll miss you!" Poppy called after him, watching him leave the cafeteria. When he was gone, she turned back to her friends and sighed, blowing a stray lock of hair out of her face.

"Oo-ooh, Poppy's in love!" sang all her friends at once.

"Guys, stop it," Poppy whined, but she was smiling. "I don't even know if he likes me back!"

Suki rolled her eyes. "Of course he does!"

"Everyone likes you," Smidge pointed out, her deep voice contrasting the way her chin was level with the table.

"Yeah, any boy would be lucky to have you," Satin said, throwing her free hand in the air. Her other hand was permanently connected to her twin sister, Chenille's.

Chenille opened her mouth to say something, but Poppy beat her to it. "But the tables are turned this time! This time I'm the one who'd be lucky to have him!"

"So you're perfect for each other," Biggie reasoned, stroking his pet rat, whom he'd named Mr. Dinkles. Mr. Dinkles was not allowed in the school cafeteria, or anywhere else in the school, but after getting over his initial guilt Biggie had decided that his pet was too important to leave behind.

Poppy sighed as though her friends just didn't understand, but she couldn't suppress the grin on her face from Biggie's words. "You think so?"

"Yes!" said her friends together, so loudly a student walking by jumped.

"Sorry!" Poppy called after him as he went to his table. Then she looked back at her friends. "Thanks for the reassurance, you guys . . . but I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to tell—"

Creek's arm reached around from behind her to grab something on the table. "Oops, I forgot my dream journal," he said, punctuating his sentence with one of those charming little chuckles he did.

Poppy's face turned bright red as she stared straight ahead at her friends, refusing to look at Creek. "Have fun meditating, Creek," she managed to get out.

"You have fun at lunch," he responded, sitting down to tap her nose. "Boop!"

She gave a weak smile and slowly turned to look at him, hoping he couldn't see her red face. "Boop!" she said, tapping his nose back.

With that, he got up and left the cafeteria.

"You guys, please tell me he didn't hear the part where we were talking about him," Poppy said pleadingly, looking back at her friends that sat across from her.

They all glanced at one another and shrugged.

"Hard to tell how much he heard," said Suki.

"But probably nothing before we all shouted 'yes,'" added Chenille.

Poppy took a deep breath. "Oh, good. Stop giving me that look, Smidge; I'll tell him eventually."

"Besides, Smidge, it's not like you've confessed to Milton yet," pointed out Guy Diamond, leaning around Poppy to give his small friend a judgmental look.

In a flash, Smidge had leaped over Poppy and had Guy by the collar, their noses almost touching as she glared at him threateningly. "_He might hear you!_" she hissed.

Guy leaned away from her. "Yes, um, sorry, Smidge," he said, clearly just wanting her to get off of him, but not taking the chance that she'd beat him up if he tried to manhandle her.

"Well, Poppy, is there any extra time you'll get to spend with him?" Biggie asked. "I'm not so great at this love advice stuff, but the more time, the better, I'm sure is a good rule."

Poppy sighed. "There would've been, but we have assigned partners for our project in science class, so no Creek."

"But who is your partner, Poppy?" asked Cooper, leaning in as though her answer was a matter of life and death.

"Branch."

"Oh my gah," Smidge said, having climbed back to her original seat. "Grumpy Branch? _That _Branch?"

The mayor's daughter nodded. "That Branch. Which, you know—of course it's not a bad thing, but he's just gonna spend the whole time criticizing my ideas until I can get him to loosen up. And I _will _get him to loosen up."

"Plus there's not as much time with Creek," said Suki, giving her friend a sympathetic look. "How 'bout this: to cheer you up, we'll have a party tonight? I'll DJ!"

Poppy cracked a smile. "Of course you will," she teased. Suki was an amazing DJ, called to a lot of the parties in Sunny Willows. "Sounds fun! I'll definitely be there! Where are we throwing it?"

Satin and Chenille glanced at one another. "Our house is free tonight," offered Satin.

"With all our fabrics, the decorations will be great," put in Chenille.

"I'll bring food!" offered Cooper enthusiastically. They all knew he was an amazing chef.

"Perfect!" exclaimed Poppy, her spirits lifted. "This party will be great, guys! Who should I send the invitations to? The whole school? Or is this a small party?"

Her friends all glanced around. "Small party," Satin said decisively, sharing a nod with her sister.

"Our house isn't that big," said Chenille.

"Okay, so I'll make invitations for us, Creek, and Branch. I mean, he'll never cheer up if he never gets invitations to parties," Poppy said, already pulling out supplies to begin her crafting.

Smidge glanced over her shoulder and smiled. Any one of her friends would assume she was looking for Milton, but no. She'd seen Branch. And everything was going perfectly.

* * *

When Branch got back to the orphanage after work that night, he sighed and began to think about his homework. He should probably get started on his science project first because the earlier he could text Poppy about it, the better. Wait any longer and it'd be him versus her friends and Creek vying for her attention. It was anyone's guess who she'd choose.

He picked up his phone and began to type.

_Branch: So for our project, I was thinking we could have a black poster as the background. Then we'll make little fact sheets on white paper and glue them onto the black poster for contrast. Of course, all of this will be typed so that it looks neat and organized. _

It took a moment for her to begin typing back, but not too long for someone who must be out with her friends right now. She simply wrote:

_Poppy: Ugh, Branch!_

Defensive, Branch starting typing again. She just wanted to get as much glitter in his and the teacher's hair as possible.

_Branch: What? That will definitely earn us an A+!_

_Poppy: I think ur forgetting our teacher is Cybil_

_Branch: So?_

_Poppy: I don't think she'll like that very much_

_Branch: And I suppose your idea is perfect?_

_Poppy: It's better than urs! :P_

_Branch: We'll let Cybil be the judge of that._

_Poppy: So do u wanna hear my idea or not?_

_Branch: If I have to._

_Poppy: Doesn't matter, I'm telling u no matter what u say_

_Branch: I saw that coming._

_Poppy: My project is big and beautiful! We'll scrapbook our project so at first it just looks like a colorful birthday card, but when the kids open it, a huge pop-up science project pops out of it! There'll be glitter and rainbows and everything! After all, my motto is, can't_

Branch squinted at the screen when she sent the message. It was really long and written without any texting slang (it got on his nerves how she didn't use punctuation or full words), which meant she must be excited, but she hadn't even finished her sentence. After a moment, he wrote back:

_Branch: You didn't finish._

_Poppy: Can't go wrong with glitter and rainbows! _

_Poppy: There, now I finished. R u satisfied?_

_Branch: No, not at all. We want our project to show that we know the material, not that we're covering our lack of knowledge with sparkles and bright colors!_

_Poppy: Hey! The sparkles and bright colors make the schoolwork more exciting!_

_Poppy: :-P_

_Branch: I know I don't text you very much, but every time I do, you use that emoji for literally no reason._

_Poppy: No, u do!_

_Branch: I really hope you have a little sister who stole your phone, and that's the reason you told me I use the party emoji more than you._

_Poppy: That was Suki! Every1 just got here for the party I'm throwing! I invited u earlier_

_Branch: And I said no, because I'd rather get ahead in school than get alcohol poisoning and diabetes._

_Poppy: Sadly u did. Creek wants me to dance and I can't say no 2 that, so gtg! Bye!_

_Branch: What about our project?_

_Poppy: We'll text l8r!_

She sent a happy emoji before she left.

Branch sighed. He would do their project alone, but he knew that with Poppy, it was smarter to just compromise on the glitter and bright colors. She'd throw a fit if he did it his way without talking to her.

Might as well get started on his math assignment . . .

* * *

After that dance, Poppy made up her mind.

She was telling Creek how she felt.

She was telling Creek how she felt.

She would tell Creek how she felt.

She wasn't backing down.

She wasn't chickening out.

She. Was. Doing. It.

The mayor's daughter walked to lunch the day after the party, repeating those words in her mind. After a heated argument with Branch about whether or not glitter was bad for the environment, she wasn't in the right mindset for romance, but she would be if she kept telling herself that. Romance _and_ confidence.

She grabbed her lunch from her locker—she'd packed herself a bunch of dessert-flavored energy bars in the hopes that it would help her out—and fixed her headband and ponytail in the little mirror on the inside before closing it. Taking a deep breath, she smiled at her reflection, then headed off to lunch with the same smile on her face.

When she arrived at her table, Creek wasn't there. Oh, cupcakes! He'd better come soon. She might have been the most outgoing girl in school, but it wouldn't take long before her nerves took over.

Still smiling, she sat down in her normal spot. "How's it going, guys?"

"Oh, we're fine," Suki said. "Last night's party was fun."

"Poppy, you seem stressed," Biggie noted, peering at his friend intently.

The pink-haired girl forced her smile even wider. "Who, me? Stressed? Of course not! Why would I be stressed? It's not like I'm planning to tell Creek how I feel about him and doubting myself even more every second that passes!"

Her friends all glanced around at one another, silence falling. Then they squealed.

Poppy winced. Was this how Branch felt all the time? Too much attention? She hadn't realized someone could feel this way.

Why was she thinking about Branch anyway? She pushed the thought out of her mind and slowly nodded at her friends. "Yeah, I'm gonna tell him," she said, trying to get used to the idea.

"But Poppy, Creek's not coming to lunch today," Cooper said when the squealing died down.

"What? Why?" Poppy asked, almost desperate. She needed to tell him before she got scared!

"Oh, Cooper's right," Guy said thoughtfully. "The school play auditions are today in the auditorium." Suddenly his face melted to an expression of horror. "I should be there!" He stood up, ran to throw his trash away, and sprinted out the cafeteria doors, glittery hairspray and jacket catching the light.

All of his friends turned to wave him goodbye. "GOOD LUCK!" they called, one collective voice.

He stuck his head back through the doors, shot them a thumbs-up, and ran away again.

Poppy sighed as they all turned back to each other. "Well, at least they'll both get great parts. Guy's a great actor, and everyone loves Creek."

"Sorry you couldn't confess, Poppy," apologized Satin, her voice sympathetic.

"You'll do it tomorrow, though, won't you?" asked Chenille, sounding worried that her friend might change her mind.

Poppy smiled, determined. "Of course I will. I don't care how scared I get. I'll tell him how I feel no matter what."

"Then maybe you should text it to him tonight," Smidge offered. "The sooner, the better."

Poppy gasped and hugged her friend. "Smidge, you're right! That way I can tell him without having to stare him in the face, but since I can FaceTime him and see him every day I can stare him in the face if I want to! It's perfect!"

She just didn't know how awry her plan would go.

* * *

Branch was sitting at his desk at the orphanage that night when his phone buzzed with a text. Instantly he saw it was from Poppy. Had she finally taken the initiative and decided to focus on schoolwork for once? He picked up his phone and opened the texting app.

_Poppy: I have something to tell you_

He waited for her to continue, but after a moment it became clear that she wouldn't. He decided to prompt her:

_Branch: . . . Yeah?_

_Poppy: It takes a lot of courage to say this..._

_Branch: Okay?_

There was a long pause, then:

_Poppy: I love you 3_

_What?_ What was going on? Did she mean it? No, she couldn't. It was a prank, or a mistake, or something—all he knew was Poppy didn't love him. Not as anything more than a friend, at least, which he'd known since middle school. He had no idea what to respond, so he replied with what he saw as the safest answer:

_Branch: . . . _

_Poppy: I'm sorry, maybe you don't like me like that_

_Poppy: Maybe you don't want to be anything more than friends_

_Poppy: I'm sorry I said that, please can we still be friends?_

She sounded so worried, yet Branch still didn't have the words to comfort her. It only took three of them, but somehow the mere thought was so scary he found himself constantly typing and deleting possible answers. After what had to be a solid two minutes, maybe more, he finally (painfully, slowly) wrote what he'd wanted to say to her for years.

_Branch: I love you too_

He'd forsaken the punctuation just like she had, but he didn't care. All he cared about was her answer. Even though he would never do it in any other situation, he started chewing his nails. This must have been what Poppy felt like only seconds ago. But now she had her answer, so would she put him out of his misery?

Almost immediately (though it could've been years and Branch wouldn't have been able to tell the difference), she texted back.

_Poppy: Really?_

_Branch: Um, yeah_

_Poppy: I'm so happy!  
Branch: You always are ;)_

_Poppy: Well, c u tmrw_

_Poppy: Sleep well cutie_

_Poppy: ;) _

_Branch: You too_

Branch set down his phone, not quite sure he wasn't dreaming. Although it was silly, he even pinched himself—and nope, he was awake. He couldn't keep himself from smiling a little, imagining Poppy smiling and dancing around after receiving his text.

He knew he needed to finish his homework within the next hour, but somehow he couldn't find it in him to concentrate.

* * *

When Poppy arrived at school early the next morning, she didn't realize that she should have been prepared for the heartbreak of her life.

She'd texted Creek how she felt the night before, and she would've definitely FaceTimed her new boyfriend if her dad hadn't asked for her help decorating their house, which she definitely couldn't turn down. But now! Now she would get to love him and kiss him and they would be together forever! She'd even stayed up late last night planning their wedding, but she wasn't tired. No, her romantic fantasies kept her more awake than ever.

She knew Creek would be at school. SWHS had two courtyards, both of which were beautiful, and he always got there an hour and a half early to meditate. He would be in the courtyard on the left side of the school, which the students had collectively decided was named the "Glitter" courtyard because of its polished, almost shimmery appearance.

Grinning, strands of hair in her face, pink ponytail swinging back and forth, she confidently strode down the hallway, to the Glitter courtyard. She pushed open the door, about to call out her new boyfriend's name, when she saw him—

He was holding someone in his arms, someone _female_, someone whose lips were pressed against his.

Poppy stared silently for a long moment, going through a series of emotions that were so fast she couldn't even tell what they were. Finally she seemed to settle on one, her eyes filling with tears as she quietly slipped out the door. Somehow, the idea of Creek knowing what she'd seen only made the pain worse.

Crossing the school with the opposite energy that she'd had only moments before, she made her way to the other courtyard—which she and the other students had deemed the "Spectrum" courtyard (it had been "Rainbow" until Branch had managed to convince everyone that "Spectrum" was more delicate and sophisticated; how he'd done that, she had no idea). She sat down on a bench in a garden of flowers—in this warm spring weather, there were also a couple of butterflies—and let herself cry, something she hadn't done in forever. It wasn't that she'd been suppressing tears, it was just that she'd had no need for them (unless, of course, they were happy tears).

Her sparkly makeup ran down her face, but she really didn't care. It was a miserable experience, but honestly, she felt strangely cleansed.

She must've cried for a long time, but at some point, she felt two hands resting on her shoulders. If she had to guess, she'd say they were male hands, but she didn't even care who it was. They had a warm, comforting feeling, and on instinct she turned and cried into their chest.

Definitely male, then. He—whoever "he" was, although she could already tell it wasn't Creek, Biggie, or Guy (probably not Cooper, either)—wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, rubbing her back and letting her cry.

After a while, when her tears slowed down, he said, "Bad day?"

Startled, she looked up at him, but stayed in his arms. The face that smiled back surprised her. "_Branch?!_" she asked, shocked.

Branch still wore a playful smile on his face. She'd never seen him like this before, but she had to admit, it suited him. "Why so surprised?" he asked teasingly, as though he expected her to know some sort of reason why she shouldn't be surprised.

"Because—because—" Poppy stammered, but she couldn't find a good end to her sentence, and finally, she sighed, Creek almost forgotten. "I don't know. I didn't know you knew how to comfort people like that."

He shrugged modestly. Why was he being so friendly? "When I found you crying, I couldn't _not_ come cheer you up. What kind of a boyfriend would I be then?" Before she had time to fully process his words or the twinkle in his eye, his lips were on hers.

The kiss was tender, sweet, everything that a first kiss should be. By the time Poppy realized she should be kissing him back, he'd already pulled away.

If she hadn't been shocked before, she certainly was now. Had the roles been reversed, she knew, it would be safe for Branch to assume that the kiss was because she was an affectionate person (although that kiss screamed "romance"). But as was . . . Branch was _not _an affectionate person.

The pink-haired girl was about to ask what had just happened when she saw the worry in his crystal-blue eyes. She'd never noticed their color before, but it was beautiful. "I'm sorry, was that too soon?" he asked, biting his lip.

Poppy suddenly found herself in the midst of a revelation. How many times had Branch looked out for her, and how many times had she disregarded his concerns? How many times had she chosen Creek's silly nose-booping and handsomeness over Branch's true care for her? It didn't even make _sense_ . . . Branch was just as handsome as Creek was, if not more . . .

Now he was stammering something about text messages and wanting to do that forever, but she was lost in his eyes. Slowly she lifted a finger to his lips.

"Shh," she murmured, leaning up to kiss him again.

This kiss was everything the first one had been, and even more. This time she was prepared; this time she kissed him back; this time she was ready to enjoy it. Fireworks exploded in her mind.

Once they realized they needed to breathe, the two teenagers pulled away and stared at each other, breathless. Poppy grinned bashfully, seeing a smile appear on Branch's face as well.

She took him by the hand, standing up suddenly. "C'mon," she said, and he stood up too.

He stood, and she practically jumped onto his back in the hopes of a piggyback ride. This was an old romantic fantasy of hers, being piggybacked by her boyfriend. When she'd fallen for Creek, she'd accepted that it would never happen, but she doubted Branch would care the way he would.

Branch staggered forward, then straightened and held her on his back with a laugh. She'd never heard him laugh before, but it was a wonderful sound. She threw her arms around his neck from behind and rested her head on his shoulder. "Why don't we walk around for a while?" she said in the most charming voice she could.

He turned his head and saw her attempt at a flirty grin and batted eyelashes, and laughed again. "Okay," he relented, beginning to carry her out of the courtyard.

They avoided the inside of the school and instead walked around the gardens outside, in the front of the school, looking at all the scenery.

Poppy didn't want him to ask her why she'd been crying, at least not right now. Right now, she'd rather forget about what she'd seen. So, never lifting her chin from his shoulder, she said, "Why so eager to be my boyfriend _today_, of all days? I thought you hated me." She realized how insensitive that sounded and quickly added, "I mean that in the nicest way possible."

Branch glanced at her with an amused smile. "Yeah, I know. And you texted me about it last night, remember?"

Poppy's face crinkled. "Texted you? No, I didn't. I didn't even text you about our project last night."

"You didn't text me about the project, but you texted me, I promise you. You texted me how you love me and then you got all nervous and said we should still be friends. Do you know how conflicting that was for me?" He turned his head to face her and gave her a mock-irritated look.

Once again, Poppy marveled at the difference in his demeanor ever since this morning. But she didn't have time to think about that. "No, I swear I didn't text you that."

"Okay, fine, but check your phone and I promise you'll find it."

"Alright . . ." She pulled her phone out and held it in front of both of them, giving a skeptical _I-know-I'm-right_ look to him. She went to her messaging app, then clicked on his contact—

Poppy nearly choked.

Instantly, Branch looked at her and set her down, obviously concerned. "Poppy? Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," she stammered, still surprised. "You win . . . I did text that to you," she added, paling as she looked at her phone in disbelief. "But I didn't mean to . . . your contact is right next to Creek's . . ." She shook her head, still staring at her phone, incredulous.

Branch looked at her, suddenly looking very worried, this time not for her but for himself. ". . . Poppy?" he asked, tentative.

The pink-haired teenager snapped out of her trance and looked up at him. "Sorry, I just . . . wow." Slowly she put away her phone.

He was like a turtle receding into its shell, and it worried her. She'd just gotten him to open up. "Are we . . ?" he asked, trailing off.

Poppy gave him a warm smile and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I'm glad I sent it to the wrong guy," she said. "Especially after what Creek did."

"Is it wrong to ask what Creek did?"

She sighed. "I'll need to talk to someone. I came to school, thinking he's my boyfriend now, and . . . he hasn't been coming this early to meditate, he's been coming this early because he's seeing someone in secret. I mean, I know technically we weren't ever together, but he was still flirting and hiding it . . ." Her heart hurt as she said the words.

Branch took her by the waist and hugged her to his side, leaning his head into hers. "I'm sorry, Poppy," he said.

"I guess I'm fine." She pulled away and grinned at him. "I just realized you're better."

If only he'd use that smile more often.

* * *

"Hey, come sit with us at lunch!" Poppy said to Branch as the bell rang for the end of science class a couple hours later. She'd spent most of the period glowering at the back of Creek's head, Branch constantly having to remind her there was plenty of time for being mad when they _weren't _working on an important project. Now she stood up, fingers interlocked with his to pull him up too. "I want to tell our friends we're official."

He let her pull him up. "You mean _your _friends," he corrected her. "I barely know them."  
"Fine, but you guys will all be besties by the time lunch is over. So are you gonna sit with us, or no?"

Branch sighed. This day had been amazing so far—he'd pinched his left wrist so many times to make sure he wasn't dreaming, the skin was red. And, of course, he'd love to sit with Poppy, but the attention her friends would give him certainly wouldn't be positive.

Still, she would just keep pestering him until he gave in. So: "Okay, I'll sit with you."

"Yay! Are you gonna buy lunch?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, do you wanna come to my locker with me while I get my lunch?"

"You'll be fine without me, I think." She was really milking this relationship thing.

"'Kay, then. I'll meet you at the cafeteria doors."

"Okay." He let her kiss his cheek, then they parted ways at the door of the science classroom.

After only a minute or two of waiting, Poppy walked up to the cafeteria doors and held her free hand toward him even before she was close enough to grab his. They interlocked fingers again and walked through the cafeteria doors.

Even if many of the students were more concerned with their own lives, Poppy was still the most popular girl in school, maybe even in town. Branch was aware of the eyes, even if it was less than half of the fairly small student body, that were on him, and it was very uncomfortable.

Soon enough, they arrived at Poppy's table. She sat down, then grinned up at him and patted the empty seat next to her. "Sit here, Branch!"

"Um, okay," he agreed awkwardly, painfully aware of the way all of Poppy's friends stared at him.

Poppy turned her gleeful, sunny smile on all her friends. "Hey guys, guess who my new boyfriend is," she said, obviously very happy with the answer.

Her friends didn't answer for a moment, looking very, very confused. Their eyes flicked between him and Poppy, then at each other, as though trying to tell the others' answer. All of a sudden they collectively forced bright smiles. "Creek?" they asked in unison, clearly trying to make their answer sound exciting.

Poppy dropped her smile, rolled her eyes, and scoffed dramatically. "No way! I'd never date that jerk! I meant . . ." She smiled again and leaned into Branch's shoulder.

He awkwardly patted her back, uncomfortable with all of the incredulous eyes that shot straight to him.

Many of her friends' jaws dropped. "_Branch?_" they asked.

"Hey, Branch stole my seat!" came another voice. It was very deep, and Branch instantly knew who it belonged to when he heard it. Turning, he saw a small, angry Smidge standing there with a lunch tray, glowering at him.

"Oops," Poppy said. "Sorry, Smidge. I was just so excited about inviting Branch to sit with us, I wanted him to sit next to me."

"So he's not your boyfriend?" Cooper asked.

Hearing this, Smidge asked, "Branch is your _boyfriend_?"

"I'm so confused!" said Cooper.

"So am I. Make up your mind, woman!" Guy said to Poppy, dramatically shaking her by the shoulders.

"You guys, I have made up my mind. First of all, Smidge can sit there"—she pointed to the seat a little ways across from her, next to Chenille—"so I can see her face, and second of all, yes Branch is my boyfriend!"

Branch wanted to bury his head in his hands from all the confusion, but he didn't want Poppy to think he was ashamed of her.

They all stared at one another for a long time, each searching for someone who had suspected that this would happen. No one had.

"Branch is your boyfriend?" asked Aspen Heitz, who happened to be passing by. He stood stock-still, staring at them as he held his tray—then all of a sudden, ran across the room to his table. "You guys, Branch is Poppy's BOYFRIEND!"

"Well, at least they'll all know soon," Poppy said with a bright smile, looking jittery.

"Um, Poppy," Biggie started nervously, glancing at his friends.

"Can we talk to you for a minute . . . alone?" finished Suki.

All their eyes traveled to Branch again, and he felt himself shrinking under their gazes. Lunch, the most uncomfortable time of the day.

Poppy's gaze was by far the friendliest. "That okay with you, Branch?" she asked, just as perky as ever.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I have to go buy lunch anyway, so . . ." He squeezed her hand and stood up to join the lunch line.

As he walked away, he heard one of the twins say, "Poppy, sweetheart, yesterday you said you were confessing to _Creek._ . . ."

He bit his lip and advanced in the line. Another girl walked up behind him, wearing a flowy white off-the-shoulder dress with a small black purse and round purple glasses. Her hair was shoulder-blade-length and dyed the same color as her glasses—she wore it loose, with a couple of vines braided into small purple braids that framed her face. Her white flower-shaped stud earrings sparkled as she said to him, "So . . . you're with Poppy now?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess so?" Branch knew she was an introvert like him, which only served in calming him a little as he talked to her. "As of this morning."

"Congratulations. If you don't mind my asking, what happened? Did you ask her out or something?"

Branch took an apple from the lunch line, considering her question. "More like she asked me, but by accident."

"How do you ask someone out by accident?" Meadow asked, her forehead wrinkling in confusion.

"The magical device called a smartphone," Branch said sarcastically. "She clicked the wrong contact."

"Meant to text Creek, huh?" It was an easy thing to guess. "So, what? She realized she'd sent it to the wrong person and was too lazy to correct it? Doesn't sound like Poppy."

Branch couldn't help it: he laughed. He wasn't used to school—or any aspect of life, really—being this enjoyable, but Meadow's guess was so far off from something Poppy would ever do, ever, that he couldn't help it. "No, Creek was . . ." He trailed off. "Well, you should ask her. Not my story to tell."

Meadow nodded. "Okay. That's good that you respect her privacy. You'll make a good boyfriend for her, I'm sure."

"Uh, thanks," Branch said, blushing a little, unsure how to respond. But by now he'd filled his tray with cheap school food and was paying for it. "See you some other time, Meadow," he said as he walked out of the lunch line and back to Poppy's table.

He sat down next to her, pretending calmness. "So, what's going on here?" he asked casually. Thank you, Meadow, for putting his social skills into motion.

"Nothing," said Poppy, but it wasn't the usual forced "Nothing!" he would normally get from her. This was warm and friendly, obviously actually nothing. "At least, nothing you'll have to worry about."

"So we're good?" he asked her friends, looking at them skeptically.

Poppy's grin was teasing as she leaned into his shoulder. "Yeah, you don't mind that he's stealing your best friend, do you?"

"You're gonna be mad no matter how we respond to that," Smidge pointed out, rolling her eyes as she bit into her sandwich.

"Yeah, I would."

"Oh, Poppy, you can have my cupcake," he said, placing the cupcake from his Styrofoam tray in front of her.

She sat straight up, face brightening. "Yay! Thanks, Branch! This is my favorite kind!"

"I know; that's why I got it."

"Aww, you're so romantic!" she exclaimed, pressing a hand to her heart. "See, guys, I told you."

"But Poppy, we agreed with you," Biggie said, a slight frown on his face.

"I know, but I was the one who convinced you to," she said, nodding and smiling like she was very pleased with herself.

And the conversation went on, just as it would every day. But this day wasn't every day. This day Branch wasn't sitting at a table far in the back of the cafeteria, all alone, doing schoolwork and watching Poppy doting on Creek. This day wasn't painful. This day brought happiness, a rare feeling for Branch.

And if he was lucky, it wouldn't be so rare anymore.

* * *

**So yeah, that's just the first part to get it going. It's short, it's rushed, I know, and I'm sorry. If enough people want me to, I could probably make just this part into a longer story, but I don't know why you guys would want me to make this very cliche idea any longer. I like my next few ideas a lot, though, so I should have those up soon. Again, tell me what you think in the reviews! And, of course, have a nice day/evening/night! :D**


	2. Separation

**So . . . yeah. Here's the second chapter. It's been two months since I published this and I'm not even gonna bother listing excuses. Instead, I'll just respond to reviews, then give you your second chapter already.**

**Guest**—**a shout out to you for being the first to review! Thank you so much for your kind words!**

**GT, Atomochi, and QuickestSecret**—**thank you all so much as well! Your reviews were what inspired me to work on this story more often!**

**Loyluma**—**thanks to you too! And yes, that's a good question. Honestly, when I wrote that, I was expecting this to be just a series of fluffy oneshots, but they would kind of build on each other as they went, if that makes sense. That first chapter was supposed to just lay the foundation for the rest of them, which was why it was all so rushed. But writing this chapter has made me think it's probably going to develop into an actual story with actual chapters . . . so, yay! (Also, I'm gonna need a new name for it if it's not just gonna be fluffiness.) :) And yeah, I understood perfectly!**

**Alright, that's about it. One more thing: I was so eager to get this done quickly that there might be a few inconsistencies or errors I missed. If you find any, please point them out to me in the reviews. Thanks!**

* * *

"Hey, Branch!" A pink-haired sixteen-year-old girl called out to her boyfriend as she saw him standing around the entrance to the elementary school down the road from their high school. She lifted a hand so he would notice her and ran over to him. Before she'd even stopped, she continued: "I didn't know you were part of the music program."

He turned and offered her a small smile. He looked tired—it was only 5:25 AM. "Yeah, I play the cello. You?"

She would've grinned if she hadn't already been. "I'm in chorus! Are you excited for today?"

"I guess so—"

"Me too! It's finally that spring music field trip that we've been hearing about all year! We get to roam an amusement park all day, and do whatever we want! If only we could take the rest of the people that are gonna be stuck at school today . . . but too bad for them, I guess. They didn't sign up for music. That was their own choice." At least, that was what her dad told her when she was upset about it the day before. It was still hard to stomach that half the students were going to be at school today, while they were all having fun on roller coasters. It didn't seem fair.

"Your friends . . . _they're_ coming, though, right?" Branch asked.

The big smile returned to Poppy's face. "Yep! Oh, oh! There're Suki and Guy! Yay, they're carpooling!" She pointed to a car pulling up.

"Why do you care if they're carpooling?"

Poppy's voice dropped to a whisper as she watched the two get out. "You don't know this yet, but we've all been trying to get them together for two years now. Believe me, carpooling is a big deal."

"Poppy . . ?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"Are they neighbors?"

"Yeah, so?"

"And they're friends?"

"Yeah . . ?"

"I really think carpooling isn't that big of a deal."

She scoffed, rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms. "Sure it is. You just don't understand yet. But don't worry! Today is a day for bonding—with everyone!" She spread her arms wide and jumped up onto his back as though expecting a piggyback ride.

He staggered forward, then straightened and said, "Should you be . . . _climbing people_ . . . like that in your dress?"

"Right. Yeah, it is kind of hard." She slid back down to the ground. The two were referring to her long, black, required chorus dress. It was an empire waist—velvet on top, long and flowy silky fabric on the bottom, tied with a black ribbon. "I don't like all the black, either, but . . ." She shrugged. "If wearing this is the price of getting to sing _and _go on roller coasters all day, I'm fine with it!"

Poppy paused to study her boyfriend's clothes. "I like your fancy clothes too, but I want to get used to seeing you in more colorful ones! I know we have to wear the T-shirts we got, but tell me you have other colorful clothes."

"I don't own any rainbow-colored pants, so no, I can't tell you that."

"Aww. Well, at least you took my advice and got your hair dyed blue. Sorry I couldn't be there with you."

"It's okay."

"Yo, Poppy!" Suki called as she casually walked over. "How're you two doing?"

"Perfect!" Poppy chirped, smiling.

"Tired, but fine," was Branch's response.

Guy Diamond was suddenly melting in the middle of the street. "Oh, I'm _so_ tired!" he cried dramatically, reaching a hand up to the sky as if it were his only chance to live. "I'm going to fall asleep here . . . all alone . . ." He mimed slowly falling to the asphalt ground.

"You're gonna get run over by a car—" Branch was the first to react to Guy's theatrics.

"Don't worry, I'll handle this," said a Suki who was smiling at his antics. She walked out into the street, grabbed her friend by the arm, and pulled him up. "Just wait till we're on the bus. Then you can sleep all you want."

"I'm too tired to move," he murmured dramatically as she pulled him onto the sidewalk.

"Well, if Guy is tired, how are _you _today, Suki?" asked Poppy cheerfully.

"You know me, Poppy—I'm _always _tired," Suki answered, a twinkle in her eye. "But this trip is gonna be awesome!"

"It's gonna be _sooooo_ awesome!" squealed Poppy excitedly.

Slowly more and more kids from the music department showed up. And finally the chorus teacher called out, "Alright, everyone! Time to start boarding your buses!"

Poppy practically leaped onto Branch in a hug, then led all her friends to the bus. They each got small tickets of green paper as they boarded, explaining the schedule, each of their chaperones' phone numbers (the chaperones didn't have to monitor where they were going, as long as they were in a group of 7 people or more), and on the other side, the packing list. Which didn't make much sense, because at this point they'd already packed for the day-long trip.

The schedule read:

_Schedule_

_5:30—arrive at Sunny Willows Elementary and board bus_

_6:00—depart for Johnson High School _

_7:15—arrive at Johnson High School_

_8:00—warm up_

_11:15—change clothes_

_11:30—depart for Adventure Land_

_7:00—depart for Sunny Willows Elementary_

_10:00—Sunny Willows Elementary estimated arrival time_

Poppy smiled as she heard Branch murmur, "Wonder if they can stick to this schedule," as they boarded.

She ended up next to Suki in the row behind the driver. They were a few seats back from the front, while Branch sat with Guy Diamond on the other side of the aisle, one seat behind them.

The pink-haired girl hadn't noticed she was surrounded by all her female friends until it was too late. Soon she felt two hands gently combing through her hair, accompanied by the twins' quiet voices: "So . . . how's it going with Branch?"

It sent a shiver down her spine, and she turned around to rest her forearms on the back of her seat to face them. With a playful smile, she whined in a whisper, "Guys, he's right there! Not right _no-ow_!"

"Wait, is something wrong?" Smidge's deep voice, again from behind her, because apparently Smidge had taken the seat in front of her. Poppy turned around to see Smidge leaning on the seat the same way she'd just been, a look of genuine concern on the small girl's face.

"No, nothing's wrong, just . . . I don't want to talk about it right now." For some reason, her friends' concern made her kind of defensive. It was almost as if they'd expected something to have gone wrong.

A look of deep relief crossed Smidge's face. "Oh good," she said, and plopped back down to her seat where they couldn't see her.

Rainbow-haired Harper, apparently sitting next to Smidge, turned around too. "Well, good. It'd be awful if something went wrong after only a week of dating."

It must've been the first time in years Poppy had to force a smile. "Yeah, that would've been awful."

As Harper turned back to the front, she tried to shake off her bad feeling. Whatever. Today would be great. They would all have tons of fun together, and any small scuffles would be forgotten.

As the bus started to move, she sent Branch a wink and blew him a kiss, then started shouting.

"A-five, six, seven, eight!"

* * *

"_You are the dancing queen, young and sweet, only_—"

"GUYS!" screamed the theater teacher, Gia Grooves, cutting off the whole bus' loud singing. "I LOVE TO SING, BUT I'LL LOSE MY JOB IF YOU DON'T STOP FOR A MINUTE AND JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

All the students recoiled and stopped talking. They all loved Mrs. Grooves, and they definitely didn't want her to get fired.

"Thank you. So, we're here at Johnson High School so you can all perform, then we'll go to Adventure Land."

"YAY!" called the students in unison.

"The problem is . . ."

A hush fell over the bus and Branch couldn't suppress a smile. This teacher was probably only six or seven years older than him, and she was treating the whole bus like it was filled with kindergarteners. Well, couldn't blame her. They were certainly reacting to the word "problem" like kindergarteners.

"The problem is, we're super-early, so we're going to go into a waiting room they have for us. Have fun, but please try not to be too loud—remember, other schools are performing here. Okay, you can go in!"

The bus filled with the chatter of excited high schoolers immediately, and Branch checked his watch. She'd said they were early . . . but nope, they were right on schedule. Had they expected to arrive later, because of traffic?

Poppy waited for him outside of the bus, a big smile on her face. With one hand, she hiked up her skirt, and with the other, she grabbed his hand, and ran at full speed toward the doors of the school, pulling him along behind her.

When they got inside, they went straight from the front lobby into the cafeteria, which was, needless to say, devoid of students, but still had its lunch tables out. Instantly, the students of SWHS took over, laughing and playing around the cafeteria.

More buses of students started arriving, filling up the space even more. As Poppy and her friends found the vending machines and marveled over how fancy they were (and how covered with children's movie stickers they were, strangely), Mrs. Grooves walked up and called, "All band and orchestra members, come with me to warm up!"

The band and orchestra members departed, leaving only Poppy, Biggie, Suki, and Guy Diamond. Poppy made sure to give Branch a kiss on the cheek as he left.

While the rest of the chorus members walked around singing random pop songs or trying to hack the cafeteria's vending machines, Biggie gasped and pointed at a big spider on the floor. "Look, everyone! It's a spider!" His tone was full of adoration as he bent down to observe it on the floor. It was common knowledge that Biggie loved spiders.

Poppy, Suki, and Guy also dropped to their knees, surrounding the spider. "It's so cute!" Poppy cooed.

"What should we name it?" asked Guy, practically with big sparkles in his eyes.

"What about . . . Fredson?" suggested Suki.

"Fredson it is!" announced Poppy with a giggle.

"Aww, we love you, Fredson," Biggie said, scooping the spider into his hands.

"We'll protect you from all the giant feet!" Guy said.

About a minute later, they had lost Fredson.

Biggie was the first to notice. "Guys, where's Fredson?"

Poppy looked at him with wide eyes and shrugged. "I thought you had Fredson, Biggie," she replied.

"No! I gave him to Suki," said Biggie, and three pairs of eyes turned to the teenage DJ.

Suki held her hands up as if surrendering. "I didn't lose him, honest! I gave him to Guy!"

Now they were all looking at Guy Diamond, whose face turned defensive. "What? This cafeteria is full of interesting stuff! How am I supposed to keep track of _one_ spider?!"

Poppy, seeing how upset Guy was, just flashed a smile. "Don't worry, everyone. We'll find Fredson! Let's all sing a song while we look for him!" She started singing a little tune:

"_Where, oh where, oh where is Fredson,_

"_Where, oh where, oh where is Fredson,_

"_Where, oh where, oh where is Fredson,_

"_Where could Fredson be?"_

"Bum-bum!" Guy added, finishing off the song, and the four friends laughed.

"See?" Poppy said. "It's perfect! Now, let's find that spider!"

As they scavenged the other school's cafeteria, the four friends harmonized to the song Poppy had just made up. After a minute, Suki's face lit up and she pointed at the floor. "I found him, guys!"

They all crowded around Fredson again, and Poppy hugged her friend. "Yay! You found Fredson! We should write a book called 'Where Is Fredson?' in his honor, and in the end, you find Fredson! And then he goes on to live a happy life with Biggie, where we all visit every day! And it'll get turned into a movie, and it'll be a huge hit, and you and Fredson will be famous!"

The mayor's daughter was happy to see that her enthusiasm had made all of her friends grin. An even wider, goofier smile appeared on her face. "Let's show Fredson around!"

It would be an understatement to say that they had fun playing with Fredson. The four friends were grinning and laughing practically the whole time that they were with the spider—as well as singing. The tune of "Where Is Fredson?" was incredibly catchy, and none of them could seem to get it out of their heads. Before long, the orchestra and band members came back.

Poppy noticed first and quickly handed Fredson to Guy Diamond, then ran over to her returning friends. "Hooray, you guys are back! Hugs, hugs, for all of you!" she said enthusiastically as she distributed hugs to each of her friends: Harper, Satin, Chenille, Cooper, Smidge, Fuzzbert . . .

"And especially you!" she chirped as she pretty much tackled Branch in a hug. She even got him to stumble backward a little, but he quickly bounced back, laughing and greeting her.

She pulled back suddenly. "Oh! You guys all have to meet Fredson!" Poppy grabbed Branch's hand and dragged him back over to their new spider friend, the rest of their group tagging along.

"Fredson?" Branch asked. He was behind her, but she could practically see his eyebrows furrowing.

"Yeah, our new friend! He's a spider, and he's awesome, and we're gonna write a book and a movie about him, and he's gonna be famous! Also, we wrote him a song! It goes like this!" She stopped dragging him when they got back to Biggie, Suki, and Guy, and sang their "Where Is Fredson?" song.

(Guy made sure to add the "bum-bum" at the end.)

"So . . . meet Fredson!" Poppy spread her arms wide in a "Ta-da!" motion, showing Fredson to all of her friends who were in band and orchestra.

They all started fawning over the spider, the same way his original owners had. Except, of course, for Branch.

"Branch, come on! Meet Fredson!" Poppy said, pushing out of the small crowd all her friends had formed. "He's so cute!"

Branch offered her a half-smile, obviously thinking that she was cute. "He's just a spider, Poppy."

Poppy dramatically put a hand on her heart and stared at him, mock-offended. "Branch," she drawled in the same dramatic manner. "How could you!"

He laughed. "Sorry, but you're not getting any apologies from me."

She exhaled like she was very distraught and held up a hand, breaking eye contact with him and shaking her head. "I—I'm sorry, I just _can't even_ right now, like—"

Branch crossed his arms and rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, now you're just being dramatic."

"Ex-_cuse_ me?" Poppy touched her fingertips to her chest, putting her other hand on her hip and pursing her lips in one of the sassiest poses she'd probably ever do.

Her boyfriend grinned, raised both eyebrows, and leaned in. "Yeah, _very_ dramatic. What're you gonna do about that, huh?"

She crossed her arms and bit her lip as a smile spread across her face. "Why don't you stick around to find out?" she challenged, a teasing glimmer in her eye. Slowly, she snaked her arms up, around his neck, a combination of sweet and seductive—

Then she leaped into him, actually tackling him into the ground this time. They tumbled across the linoleum floors together, Poppy ending up on top. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment, minds racing to catch up with what had just happened.

Poppy recovered first and grinned, leaning closer for a kiss. Her lips were a millimeter away from his when:

"Chorus, time to rehearse!"

* * *

Branch could barely even process what had been happening: one minute he and Poppy had been playing around, then they were crashing into the floor, rolling across it, and then Poppy was about to kiss him (!)—but someone had interrupted it by yelling something about rehearsing.

He saw his girlfriend pull back, smile slipping off her face, and heard her mutter "Dammit," under her breath before getting up, flashing him a quick smile, and saying, "I'll see you later."

He waved back to her, sitting up on the hard floor, but he was surprised. For a girl like Poppy, that kind of cursing was extreme. Usually, when she got frustrated, she'd just lament, "Cupcakes!" or something similar. (Not that he'd been around her when she got frustrated very much before recently, but before, when she'd been kinda-dating Creek, it was the kind of thing she'd have said at school.)

And then, another, more serious, thought: was he rubbing off on her? His own thoughts echoed in his head, as though to make his sinking feeling worse. _When she'd been kinda-dating Creek, it was the kind of thing she'd have said at school_.

Creek. Calm, calm Creek, who would probably never stand for the girl he had wrapped around his finger saying a _real_ curse word (but _would_, apparently, tear her heart into pieces by cheating on her).

In comparison, Branch . . . well, he knew his priorities were lined up in a better manner than Creek's, and he wasn't the kind of person who would deliberately teach someone _not_ to curse (at least not someone who was already in high school). But he also wouldn't deliberately teach them _to_ curse, so unless there was someone else that had just entered her life, that one word she'd muttered was probably purely from him spending too much time with her.

That was when he realized a couple of things. One, if he didn't stop spending so much time with Poppy, she'd turn out just like him.

That was the last thing anyone needed.

Oh, and two: he was still sitting on the floor where she'd left him.

Sighing to himself, he stood up and dusted himself off. _Just calm down_. It wasn't like he could get away from her for the rest of the day, anyway, so blissfully ignoring the problem the way she was always able to do? Probably the best short-term solution.

Even after admitting this to himself, he found it hard to accept that he didn't have to start finding and putting a motion a plan. It kept gnawing away at him, that feeling that he _wasn't doing anything_—

He still had a lot to learn if he was going to start looking on the bright side more often.

After about 45 minutes of wandering around aimlessly, declining offers to play with Fredson, and ultimately just being bored, Poppy and the rest of the chorus finally returned from performing.

In true Poppy nature, he barely even saw any part of her, only a crazy pink-and-black blur speeding toward him until she was able to throw her arms around him. She gave him a big hug and a quick peck on the lips, then dashed over and hugged the rest of her friends.

Branch found himself smiling after her. How was he ever going to be able to stay away long enough not to rub off on her?

* * *

"This was my biggest accomplishment today, you guys," Smidge announced as all the girls changed out of their dresses on the bus. Poppy, who was trapped in her dress, had to look through the sleeve to see that her small friend had managed to wrangle the dress off of herself and slip into her music-department-issued T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Smidge was also glaring hatefully at the ball of black fabric in her hand.

"How did you even do that?" the pink-haired high schooler asked, fighting with the fabric of her own dress. "I can't get mine off!"

"Here, let me help," Smidge said, and then Poppy felt tugging on the top of her dress, the part she'd managed to get out of. Both girls pulled in opposite directions, so hard that when it came off, Smidge stumbled backward into a seat on the other side of the aisle, and Poppy hit her head on the window.

"You two okay?" Suki asked, also having already changed.

Poppy rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Thanks, Smidge!"

"These dresses are pure evil," Smidge said, glowering at Poppy's dress before tossing it back.

"Well, thanks anyway," Poppy said with a giggle, then put on her blue field trip T-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. She'd also packed a pair of long jeans and a sweatshirt, in case she got soaked on a water ride (Branch's doing, since they'd packed for the trip together after school the day before).

As soon as she was ready, she clapped her hands. "Are we all ready to let the boys come on and change?" The sooner everyone was dressed, the sooner they could get to the field trip part of the field trip.

All the girls murmured answers, but Satin's and Chenille's was the most prominent: "NO!"

They sounded frustrated to tears—which, Poppy realized, made sense, as she looked over at them. It wasn't like the twins couldn't ever change clothes, but if the dresses were hard for the rest of them to get off, it was about a thousand times more difficult for two people who could literally never stop holding hands.

"Oof," Poppy said sympathetically after getting a glance of their situation. "Um . . . maybe we can cut you two out of that dress!"

Their answer was, once again, "NO!"

"We _vowed_ to make clothes better, Poppy," Satin said as though it was obvious.

"Yeah, not worse!" Chenille put in. "Besides, we'll need these dresses for next year!"

"Just get new ones," Smidge said, and now Poppy could see that in taking off her dress, she'd torn it to shreds.

Both the twins gasped, horrified. "We're NOT cutting or ripping our dresses!" they yelled in unison.

"Okay, okay," Poppy agreed with a smile. "Then I'll just help you as best I can. Uh . . ." She inspected her friends, circling around them and trying to see what she could do. "How do you usually get these off?"

"Our mom has to do it," Satin said miserably.

"In our sleep," Chenille said.

"Okay . . . well, you obviously can't get them off at the same time, so stop trying. Chenille, you can go first. We can . . . we can . . . maybe take your dress . . . okay, hold on, I'm gonna go ask for help." The pink-haired girl grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil, then left the bus and found her boyfriend.

"Branch! You like puzzles, right? Nevermind, you have to do one anyway." She started sketching Satin and Chenille.

"Hello to you too," he teased her as she drew. "What's the puzzle?"

She shoved the sketch in his face. "I need help. How do they get out of their dresses?"

He grabbed the paper and looked at it. "Satin and Chenille?"

"Yeah. How do they get out of their dresses?"

He laughed. "Calm down. Did you ask them how they normally change out of those dresses?"

"They said their mom does it. In their sleep," Poppy replied, nodding.

"Did you call their mom?"

Poppy's face lit up. "That's perfect! Thanks so much, Branch!" She gave him a quick hug and kiss, then ran back onto the bus.

"Did you think of something?" Harper asked when she got back.

"Yep! Well, Branch thought of it, but still. We're gonna call your mom and ask her how she does it!"

"Oh," Satin said.

"That makes sense," said Chenille.

"Which is why we needed Branch to think of it," Poppy said, grinning and taking out her phone.

Harper rushed over and shoved her hand down. "What are you doing?" the rainbow-haired girl hissed.

"Calling Satin and Chenille's mom," Poppy answered innocently.

"No, I mean, you can't have your phone out."

"What? Why?"

"Because there are people changing. I know you'd never take pictures of them without all their clothes on, but . . . I just don't want you to get caught."

"Thanks, Harper, but I'll put it on speakerphone so it's obvious what I'm doing. Just helping two friends change. Here." The phone started ringing and Poppy put it on speakerphone.

The twins' mom picked up. "Poppy? Is that you? Are Satin and Chenille okay?"

"They're fine," Poppy said with a smile. "It's just that they can't get out of their dresses and we need you to tell us how you do it when they're asleep, like they said." She put it on speakerphone so everyone could hear.

"Oh, well I usually just have to cut the dresses apart, then sew them back together before they wake up. Otherwise, I don't know how to help you. Those dresses are really tight."

"Yeah. Well, thanks! Super-helpful! We'll try not to bother you anymore! Bye!" She hung up.

"Looks like you'll have to do it my way," Smidge said to the twins smugly as she walked by (then walked back to her seat, because there was really nowhere to go).

"Okay, fine!" pouted Satin.

Chenille covered her eyes dramatically. "Just get it over with."

Poppy laughed. "Okay." She pulled her scrapbooking scissors out of the bag she'd packed for the trip, then approached her friends and began to cut their dresses apart.

When it was finally done, the mayor's daughter announced, "Finished! You guys can change now."

The twins opened their eyes and looked down at the floor sadly, where the remains of their dresses lay. "Rest in peace," Satin said.

Poppy rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "C'mon, the faster you change the faster the boys can change and the faster we can all get to the park!"

Smidge shoved their clothes at them, and Suki gathered up the scraps of the dresses, saying, "Now you have clothes that need to be made better. You can fix them at home if you're ever busy." The DJ stuffed the fabric into her friends' bags.

After everyone was finished getting changed, they got back into their seats to drive to Adventure Land. The bus had erupted into song before it even started moving.

This would be the best day ever!

* * *

Branch could already tell something was going to go wrong.

The closer they got to the park, the worse the weather looked. It had been pretty humid at Johnson HS, but now it was getting cloudy, getting cloudier, the clouds were getting darker . . .

At no point did it look like a full-blown thunderstorm, but it had started to sprinkle. Branch didn't believe that it could be a bad omen, but still—who wanted to go to an amusement park in the rain?

As always, Poppy (along with the rest of the school) didn't seem to notice that this was a problem, or didn't care. They just kept on singing, swinging their arms in the air with wide grins on their faces. Poppy was amazing, but very, very, irritating.

But, no. He couldn't say anything, couldn't force her to worry over a little rain. If he was really rubbing off on her, then he would just stay as far away from her as possible. If he couldn't, he would just try not to act like himself, and to act more like her.

He'd told himself not to worry about it, but he had to admit it felt better to have an actual plan.

Within the next couple of minutes, they'd arrived. It was chaotic as all the students tried to figure out what they wanted to take with them, and what they wanted to leave on the bus (and therefore not get back until they left the park hours later). Branch only took his phone and money and left everything else on the bus.

As they were getting off the bus, he fell into step beside Poppy. "What're you bringing?"

"Um, my purse," she said, smiling at him as she held up her small, crocheted, rainbow-colored cross-body bag—which, given how Branch had never seen it before, was probably something that sat in her closet most of the time. "And whatever mysterious things might be inside." She said the words dramatically, then looked through it and added much less dramatically, "Which is my phone, some Chapstick, and some money."

Branch laughed a little. "So, um, it's raining."

She looked at him with a confused expression. "Yeah, so?"

"I just . . . do you mind?"

"Why would I mind? It's just the weather." She grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers.

He had to smile at her. "Nevermind."

"Well, come on, then! They want us to take a group picture before we go into the park!" She dragged him along behind her as she ran to join the rest of the group that was gathering near the park entrance for a picture.

Everyone crammed together, getting closer and closer as more and more people came up to get in the picture. Their bodies were turned sideways, trying to fit everyone in the music department (most of the school) onto their teachers' tiny little screens. Finally, they were done taking the pictures, and after being let into the park, the adults took them to the First Aid Station.

"Alright!" announced Mrs. Grooves. "The First Aid Station is where you come if you're hurt or lost. Got it?"

"Got it!" chorused all the students.

"And you have to be in groups of 7 or more at all times! Got it?"

"Got it!" the students called back again.

"Perfect! Now go enjoy your field trip!" she yelled, practically shooing them away.

"Yay! Okay, let's go figure out our group, Branch. Um, you, me, the twins, Biggie, Suki, Guy, Fuzzbert, Harper, Smidge, and Cooper . . . am I missing anyone?"

Branch raised an eyebrow, wondering where the idea that _he _would know if she was missing anyone had come from. "Don't ask me."

"Mm . . . no, I don't think so." She raised her hand high, waving it. "Harper! Come on! We're over here!"

In an impressively short amount of time, she'd gathered up their whole group. "Where should we go first, team?" she asked, grinning.

"Um . . . Poppy, can we _not_ go on any of the big roller coasters today?"

"Okay, Biggie, no problem! And we've got a big group. Some of us can wait while others go on roller coasters. And here's the kids' section, so why not start there?"

The group seemed to be in agreement, so they all headed towards the kids' section—which, the way they were approaching, had a ride front and center that even adults were clearly finding fun. It was the kind where you got into a chair sort of thing and then the ride swung you around in a circle as it got higher. Harper pointed first. "How about that one?"

They were all excited when the teenage artist pointed it out to them—all except Biggie. "It looks pretty high . . ." he said. He'd already taken out Mr. Dinkles and was fearfully holding the rat to his chest.

Poppy walked up to him, smiled, and gave him a hug. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, Biggie. We won't force you. So some of us can wait with you and others can go on the ride, then we'll switch out."

"I don't want to make you guys wait . . ."

"Biggie. With a group our size, they probably wouldn't let us all on at once anyway. So Branch and I will stay with you, along with a couple more of our friends"—Branch didn't miss the way she shot a glance at them, reminding them to support Biggie—"and the rest will go on the ride. It won't take long at all, then we'll switch out. Okay?"

Branch, watching her, was glad that for the most part, she was still herself. She hadn't used any curse words, and she'd made sure to support her friend the way she always did. But that glance at her other friends . . . it had seemed kind of fierce, and he couldn't tell if that was new, or if it was classic Poppy and he was just seeing things.

They all gave overlapping agreements, and split into two groups: Harper, Satin, Chenille, Guy Diamond, Suki, and Fuzzbert, who would line up for the ride; and Poppy, Branch, Biggie, Smidge, and Cooper, who would wait outside of the ride.

Almost as soon as they split, Cooper grinned as he saw the building they were standing next to. "Cotton candy?" he asked, sounding incredibly excited.

"Um, Cooper—" started Branch uncomfortably. He was used to dashing Poppy's hopes, but he didn't know her friends well enough . . .

Luckily, Smidge intervened. "It's raining," she finished for him.

"So?" Poppy asked.

"The cotton candy would melt," Branch explained.

"Ohhhh," she said, nodding like it all made sense.

"Oh, right," Cooper said, looking disappointed.

Poppy gave him a hug. "Don't worry, Cooper! We can stuff ourselves with everything else today! On the way in, I saw a candy shop, and a fudge shop, and a stand selling funnel cake! Obviously. Anyway, today we can eat every last bit of sugar in this place!"

"You guys are all gonna get diabetes one day," Branch said disapprovingly.

Now the pink-haired teenager turned her attention on him. "Branch . . . how often do you have dessert?"

A little squeamish under her unrelenting gaze, he shrugged. "I mean, I don't know . . . maybe every couple of months, or something . . ."

Every one of them gasped, practically jumping away from him like he'd just announced he had the plague. "Oh . . . my . . . _gah_," Smidge said, shaking her head.

"Branch, this is an emergency." Poppy touched his arm, looking directly into his eyes with a look that was almost concerned. "I will not leave this park until you've eaten every dessert along with our group!"

"Geez, okay," he said, teasingly leaning backward to avoid her intense stare.

She pulled back and grinned. "Good! I'm gonna hold you to that."

Before long, the first group had gone on the ride and was ready to stay with Biggie. The rest of them got onto the ride, Poppy sitting next to Branch on the two-person seat (naturally).

As they got themselves strapped in, Branch noticed that her eyes were fixed on the ride operator, who was probably in his early 20's, with a thoughtful expression on her face. He touched her arm and asked, "What're you thinking about?"

She pried her eyes away and back to him. "I wonder what it's like to have his job. Oh, maybe I could work at an amusement park one day and find out?"

Her boyfriend was amused. "So your dream job is a ride operator at an amusement park?" he teased.

She rolled her eyes at him. "No! I think it'd be cool to be mayor, like my dad. I like helping him sort through some of his 'work problems' sometimes."

Branch kissed her cheek. "I'm sure you'd do a good job."

"What do you want to do when you graduate?" She turned her wide, curious eyes on him.

He sighed. "Go to college. Get a job that pays well. I don't know."

She awkwardly tried to give him a hug and rest her head on his shoulder from her strapped-in position on the ride. "Well, today you don't need to stress about it. Today, you don't need to stress about anything. Today's gonna be a day of fun!"

Branch managed to take a deep breath, calming himself down a little bit. "Thanks, Poppy."

The ride operator came around and made sure they were safe, so Poppy had to stop hugging Branch, but she still threaded her fingers through his with a warm smile.

They stayed like this throughout the ride. When it was time to get off, Branch smiled at her and said, "Thanks, Poppy."

She looked up at him, genuine curiosity on her face. "For what?"

He had to shrug, stifling the wider grin that wanted to emerge on his face. "I don't know."

Now she was smiling, a little coyly. "Okay . . ."

They reunited with the rest of the group (still holding hands). "Is there anywhere anyone wants to go now?" Poppy asked.

"Why not see if we can find something else in the kids' section?" suggested Harper brightly, glancing at Biggie.

"Sounds great!" Poppy said—but, Branch noticed, only after checking the faces of all her friends to make sure they were okay with it.

Just then, another group of SWHS students walked by, and Harper smiled. "You guys, I'm so sorry. I'll meet up with you later, I promise!" She left their group, chasing after the other one in hopes of joining it.

"Welp, we can still go on a ride without Harper. Let's go!" Smidge said, sounding impatient to get out of the kids' section. She didn't look at Biggie.

"Smidge is right. C'mon, everyone!" Poppy led them all around the area of smaller rides. Most of them either didn't look fun to Biggie, or they required shorter riders. When they got to a slightly larger roller coaster next to a frozen yogurt shop, some excitement was sparked in the group.

"That one looks fun!" Suki said enthusiastically, pointing at it. There was definitely a long line, but it was different than most of the other kids' rides. Like the one they'd previously been on, people of all ages were in line for it.

"Ooh, yeah! Come on, Chenille!" Satin said, already dragging her sister toward it.

Fuzzbert (who was covered in so much hair all over his _whole body _that he'd dyed all of it green) grunted something that none of them could understand. Branch sent Poppy a quizzical look, and she whispered back, "He's a foreign exchange student—or something like that. We're pretty sure he can understand us, but he doesn't speak English himself. No one knows where he came from. At first, when he got here, there was this huge mystery surrounding him, but know we've all gotten used to it."

Branch nodded. Leave it to Poppy to befriend a new student she couldn't even understand.

Louder, Poppy said, "How about this: anyone who wants to go on the roller coaster can, and anyone who doesn't want to can go get froyo while they wait in line? I'll pay."

They all seemed to be in agreement, so after collecting her friends' phones, Poppy grinned and said, "Branch, you are _going_ to eat your frozen yogurt if it's the last thing you do!" She pulled him inside.

He hadn't realized how cold the drizzle outside was until he was in the (slightly) warmer building. All the windows were foggy and it was hard to see outside.

After he and Poppy came in, the doors opened behind them again and a rush of cold air went into the shop. Branch shivered as Biggie, Fuzzbert, and Cooper walked in.

"Is everyone else going on the roller coaster? Okay, perfect!" Poppy said (before they even had time to respond). "I'll pay for your froyos, okay?"

They were soon paid for, and the five friends sat down at the counter by the foggy window. Poppy sat next to Branch, and stared at him.

He tried to ignore her, but it was really hard. Finally he looked at her and said, "What?"

"I'm making sure you're eating all of it."

Branch had to laugh. "I'm not going to if you keep staring at me like that."

"If I stop, will you eat it?"

"I'll eat as much as I can."

She slowly looked away, almost mistrustfully. "Okay . . ."

"As much as he could" turned out to be about half of it. He hadn't had so much of something so sickly sweet in a long time (if ever) and his body couldn't handle it. He gave up, knowing he wouldn't really be rewarded in any way even if he did manage to finish it, and pushed the paper cup away.

Unfortunately, this small movement drew Poppy's attention. She perked up and grabbed the cup: "Are you done?"

"No," he groaned, resting his head on the table, waiting to hear Poppy's response: "You can do it! Don't give up!" or something like that. Instead, she was silent—and the next thing he knew, her lips were on his neck.

He barely even knew how to react. "Poppy—" He turned around, pulled her in, and kissed her back.

Her arms snaked up around his neck, pulling herself closer . . . and then she pulled back, a devilish grin on her face. "Now finish your frozen yogurt, and you can have more." She emphasized every syllable in "frozen yogurt" teasingly. She looked incredibly pleased with herself.

It took him a moment to realize what she meant. Once he did, though, he raised an eyebrow at her: "Are you _blackmailing _me?"

She had that "fight me" sort of grin on her face as she spread her arms wide. "Why don't you find out?"

What happened after that was all a blur, but there was definitely some sort of frozen yogurt food fight.

Needless to say, they were kicked out.

"Sorry, guys," Poppy said as they waited outside in the drizzle. "You didn't get to finish."

"Are you kidding? That was _hilarious_!" Cooper said, still laughing about what had gone on in there.

"Definitely worth it," Biggie said, his reaction more subdued, but still grinning.

Fuzzbert made another grunting, mumbling noise that seemed to be in agreement with what Biggie and Cooper were saying.

Poppy smiled, looking reassured. "Good. Oh, look! They're back!" She stood up and went to hug everyone who'd been on the roller coaster: Suki, Smidge, Satin, and Chenille. "How was it?" she said as Biggie, Cooper, Fuzzbert, and Branch stood up to rejoin their large group.

"Eh, kind of boring for a ride with so many people in line," Satin said, looking a little disappointed.

Smidge leaped up and grabbed Poppy by the shoulders. "THERE WAS NO THRILL!" she said angrily.

Somehow, Poppy looked as if this was something completely normal. "That's too bad. Why don't we try to find a ride in this area that will let tall people like us ride, and then we can go do something else?"

Smidge got back on the ground as Biggie spoke for all of them and said, "Sounds good."

After five minutes of searching, it became obvious that none of these rides would let any high schoolers get on, yet still they kept going. Branch was inwardly cringing every time they asked, unable to make eye contact with the operators. He tried to look as disinterested in everything they did as possible. It was irrational to get this stressed about it, he knew, but he couldn't help it.

Finally Smidge interjected, right as Poppy fell into step beside him and grabbed his hand. "Can't we just go somewhere else already?" the small, blue-haired girl asked, clearly irritated.

Poppy whispered to him: "Are you okay?" There was concern in her eyes.

"Yeah . . . I'm fine," he said, his heart's pounding calming as he smiled at her.

"I'm kinda hungry," said Suki. "Can we go to that Starbucks we saw on the way in?"

"But we _have _to go on a big roller coaster after that," Smidge said, giving her orange-haired friend a look. Even as someone new to their circle of friends, Branch knew that it was the kind of look that alerted everyone not to cross her.

Suki held her hands up as though surrendering. "I'm cool with it."

They made their way to Starbucks, occasionally shivering from the cold mist. The coffee shop was warm-ish when they got inside, but packed, so they all crammed in the back together.

"Oh!" Poppy said, pulling her phone out of the small purse she'd brought along. "Harper just texted me!"

"What did she say, Poppy?" asked Biggie.

"Um . . . she says she's at a diner in the middle of the park and she wants us to come join her."

"Ugh! Can't we just eat here so we can go on a roller coaster sooner?" Smidge groaned.

"I'll ask," Poppy said kindly. After a minute of texting, she frowned at Smidge and shook her head. "Nope, the other group left her at the diner and she needs us to come down there so she won't get in trouble for being on her own."

Smidge threw her hands up in the air and walked right out the door.

Satin and Chenille grinned. "She's so dramatic," they said in unison.

"I know it'll take a little longer, but there's probably better food there than here, anyway," Poppy reasoned.

So, once again, they crossed the park.

The diner Harper had told them about was also packed, and even a little warmer than Starbucks had been. (It was still open to the outdoors on one side, though.)

The colorful artist waved to them from farther down the line, and they all joined her. "Thanks for coming to get me, guys."

"No problem!" Poppy gave her friend an enthusiastic hug. "So, what's the best stuff on the menu here?"

"The fries look good," Harper offered. "They're out of milkshakes, though."

Branch gave an inward sigh of relief. His stomach still hurt a little from the amount of frozen yogurt he'd eaten.

"Aw, too bad," Satin said.

"Maybe we can come back when they have more," Chenille suggested.

"Great idea!" enthused Cooper.

"Yeah—we can get some for the bus home." Now Chenille was the one receiving a hug.

Branch couldn't help but marvel at the way that she somehow stayed connected to all of them, managing the chaos from right in the center. He would never be able to that.

He hadn't realized he'd been smiling at the thought until he felt the smile slipping away. It was only another reason he had to keep away from her. She was amazing and he didn't want to take that away from her.

Guy Diamond approached them and put an arm around her, obviously trying to be as persuasive as possible. "Ah, Poppy. I'm not very hungry. And there's a nice, big roller coaster right outside. So, what do you say we split up again so Smidge and I can ride the roller coaster and you all can eat lunch?"

Smidge had already rushed to their feet, looking eager. "Roller coaster?" There were practically stars in her eyes.

"Actually, I'm not hungry either. Good idea, Guy! C'mon—does anyone else want to go on the roller coaster with us? Branch, you want to?"

Branch contemplated for a minute, but decided that he really didn't want her shoving any more sugar down his throat (he also didn't want to get kicked out of anywhere else in her efforts to do so). If he ate without her, she wouldn't be able to. Plus, she'd be able to have fun with her friends without having him around to ruin their fun.

So, ultimately: "No, thanks. I'm in the mood for lunch. But we'll wait for you outside of the roller coaster when we're done."

She smiled. "Thanks, Branch." She kissed his cheek before turning to the door and calling back over her shoulder, "Alright, who wants to come on the roller coaster with me?" before she walked out.

This turned out to draw a lot of attention, and Suki and Fuzzbert followed her out the door. Branch was left Harper, Satin, Chenille, Biggie, and Cooper to have lunch with. (Poppy walked back in a second later to get him to carry her purse, which all of their phones were stuffed inside of.)

"Lunch" turned out to be standing around inside for the bit of extra warmth it offered while eating fries, the door constantly opening and closing, letting gusts of cold air come in. Mix that with the fact that their clothes had gotten at least a little wet already, and it was really not the amazing end-of-year field trip that the teachers had talked about the whole year.

Go figure.

He wondered if Poppy was having any more fun.

* * *

Poppy shivered as rainwater from her long pink ponytail dripped down her back. She was already leaning in an uncomfortable position to keep her shirt from sticking to her skin, so it didn't feel great to know that her efforts were all in vain.

She knew she shouldn't be thinking like that. Her whole life, she'd been taught to see the bright side of things. Really, it wasn't so bad. She liked playing in the rain, and anyways, this ride had a line that was inside a small building. So . . . why not take this chance to dry out?

She leaned to the side, wincing as the cold T-shirt clung to her clammy skin, but glad that her ponytail wasn't dripping over her clothes and body anymore. She wrung it out over the dirt ground they were standing on as much as she could, trying to get all the water out.

She stood up straight again and wrung out her T-shirt (it didn't do much) wishing she had something to dry her skin off with. She turned to her friends: "Does anyone have anything dry?"

Guy Diamond scoffed at her request. "What do you think we are, _gods_? It'd be impossible to keep something dry in _this_ weather!" he exclaimed dramatically, stamping one foot on the ground.

Poppy had to laugh as an older man in line behind them deadpanned, "Dude. It's not even raining that hard."

Guy turned around and gripped the man by the shoulders, their noses nearly touching. "You haven't been out here as long as we have!" he said, slowly melting to the ground like he was dying.

The man let a couple of people cut him in line.

Poppy laughed as she tied up her shirt as high as she could, hoping she'd dry off. She wished Branch had come along, if only because he (somehow) was always helpful in situations like this. Even if all he could do was offer her body heat, it'd still be helpful.

And, yeah. Her friends could do that, too. But—and this was a first—she didn't feel like hugging her friends right now.

She just wanted Branch.

Not the time to think about that, though. He wasn't here, so why not focus on what _was_ going the way she wanted? The line was moving forward, so they'd be on the ride sooner. She could tell Smidge was excited about it too.

Her small friend was biting her fingernails, bouncing with excitement. It was adorable, but a little worrying (in a normal Smidge kind of way), that she was repeatedly murmuring under her breath, "Roller coaster, roller coaster, roller coaster . . ."

Poppy couldn't wait to see her friend get what she wanted—and to go on the roller coaster, of course!

A couple minutes later, the line moved forward again. Branch and her other friends she'd left behind were probably done having lunch by now.

Moving forward more. They'd be on the ride and reunited with their group in no time.

And then the entrance to the ride was chained off, and the line stopped moving.

"Wait . . ." The excitement on Smidge's face faded to suspicion. "What's going on?"

At the very front of the line, some of the park's staff members looked like they were explaining something. Before Poppy even knew what was going on, much less was able to stop her, Smidge was racing up there, demanding (loud enough that Poppy could hear it) to know what was happening.

Suki and Guy ran after her. "Smidge, wait!" Poppy saw them apologizing for their friend's behavior.

She turned to Fuzzbert, the only friend who was still in line with her. "They're crazy sometimes, aren't they?"

Her green-haired friend grunted something which she could only assume was an agreement.

Smidge stormed back a little later, soaking wet. "They had to close the ride," she growled through her teeth, fists clenched.

"What? Why?" Poppy asked, looking to Guy and Suki for the answer.

"It's pouring out there," Suki said.

"Oh. So should we go find the rest of the group?"

"They told us to _wait_," Guy lamented. "I've already been waiting for _years _in this filthy line of civilians. _Years_!"

Poppy and Suki giggled and shared a grin at his theatrics. "Well, I think we can wait just a little bit longer. The rain has to let up at some point, right?"

So that was what they did. Wait . . . wait some more . . . try to entertain themselves . . . wait some more . . .

"I can't stand this anymore!" Smidge finally cried. "We're wasting our whole day in a LINE! We need to go find a roller coaster that actually _works_, unlike this one!" She shot an angry glance in the direction of the staff members that were still getting soaked at the front of the line.

"Sounds like more fun to me than this," Suki said.

"Agreed!" announced Guy.

Fuzzbert grunted an agreement.

"Okay! We'll just go find Branch and the rest of the group—they're probably waiting for us outside—and do something else with them. When the sun starts to come out, we can come back and ride this roller coaster. Let's go!" Poppy led them out of the ride and to the front, where Branch would, obviously, be waiting for her.

"Uh, Poppy? I don't see any of them," Suki said when they got out.

"Um, yeah . . . maybe they're still inside the restaurant! It's probably warmer and dryer there than out here, anyway," Poppy offered. Maybe they'd been right to close the ride. She'd never been in such heavy rain.

They sprinted to the restaurant, shivering from the cold rain. Still no sight of their friends. "Poppy, where are they?" Smidge asked.

"Um . . . I'm not really sure . . ." she admitted. "Oh! I'll just text them!" Feeling better, she reached for her phone—

_Dammit_.

She'd given all their phones to Branch for safekeeping.

She'd never felt so lost before.

Where was he?

* * *

**That's it for now (it was pretty long, though, wasn't it?). :) I'm not gonna make any more promises about when the next chapter will be ready, but yes, I am on my summer break right now, and yes, I am in love with this idea, and no, I don't have anything else to do. Do the math yourself. :) **

**See you in the next chapter! **


	3. Reunited

**Okay, this chapter took longer than I thought it would, but I still made the deadline on my profile and I still beat last time. Plus, it's like 9,000 words, so . . . yeah, there's my excuse. **

**PJ**—**a shout-out to you for being the first to comment on my second chapter, and a thank you for your praise! I hope my descriptions of the cold rain live up to last time's! ;)**

**AutumnWritesTrolls**—**thanks for your kind words as well. I'd also like to tell you how helpful it was to hear what you thought I'd done right and try to apply it to this story (let me know if it worked; I think I did the best at the end of the chapter). Not to mention the inspiration to work on the story that it gave me. :)**

**QuickestSecret**—**thank you as well! Your comment really inspired me to work on it too! (Which I need so that I won't procrastinate and Google the random-est stuff in the world while I'm supposed to be writing.) :D**

**Hope you enjoy the next chapter!**

* * *

A little while earlier, Branch, Biggie, Harper, Satin, Chenille, and Cooper had finished lunch and gone to stand in the drizzle outside of the big roller coaster that their friends were on. It was cold out, and even though the rain wasn't heavy, their clothes and hair were wet from being in it so long—so it was natural for them to hope that their friends would be out soon. In fact, every time the roller coaster passed them, they would scream their friends' names (even though it was likely that they hadn't gone yet).

Since they were standing in front of the see-your-photos booth, every time one roller coaster ride ended, a flood of people would come by for a minute or two, then leave. The young man operating it finally struck up a conversation with them when no one was there.

"You waiting for friends, or what?" he asked.

Branch hung back as the girls took hold of the conversation. "Yeah, waiting for friends," Harper answered.

"They'll be out soon, right?" Satin asked.

The man at the booth shrugged. "Eh, depends how long they've been in there. But the line isn't snaking all the way outside this time. You shouldn't have to wait too long."

"Thanks," Chenille said.

It was a long, boring wait. They talked, strolled around the small area, and used their phones (Harper asked him if he wanted to try and hack the passcode on Poppy's—he declined).

And then the rain got heavier.

It soaked Branch's clothes and seeped into his shoes, squishing as he walked. It drenched his hair and dripped down his skin, making him shiver—but he certainly didn't have it as bad as the twins, who had to cooperate to wring out their long hair.

Speaking of hair, he realized quickly that the temporary blue dye he'd put in his hair for Poppy's sake was streaking down his face. It'd be a thing of the past in no time—which was a problem, considering he'd told his girlfriend that it was permanent so that she wouldn't take him to a hair salon acting like he was three years old and she was his six-year-old sister. She wasn't out yet, though. Maybe he would ask one of their friends if they had any ideas before she left the roller coaster and rejoined them.

Biggie was also having a hard time—he'd managed to sneak Mr. Dinkles into the park (he probably had experience, having to hide his pet from teachers and such) but now he had to keep Mr. Dinkles warm in this weather. Which was going to be hard, since he didn't even have dry clothes.

Branch wished he could help out, but it wasn't like he had dry clothes either. So he stood there shivering, hoping that Poppy and the rest of their friends would be out soon.

"Guys, the ride isn't going anymore," Cooper pointed out, shivering just like the rest of them.

"What?" Harper asked, practically curling herself into a ball to preserve warmth.

"Oh no, Cooper's right," Satin said.

"Do you think that they've gone yet?" Chenille asked.

"It shouldn't matter, should it?" Branch asked. "They'll come out to get us either way, right?"

"Hopefully," Biggie said. "We can wait a little longer, though." He didn't sound convinced.

So then, that was what they did: wait a little longer. It wasn't at all fun for any of them, what with the weather being the way it was. But they weren't about to abandon their group, so they stayed.

Finally the young man in the booth interjected: "You guys still waiting for friends?"

Cooper responded this time. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

This made the guy smile. "They've probably already left by now. The ride will be closed until the rain stops, and I don't think that'll be anytime soon."

"Oh . . . so we've been waiting here for nothing? Mr. Dinkles!" Biggie yelped his pet's name at the last second, catching him just before he escaped into a nearby bush.

"You'd probably have a better chance of finding them out in the park."

"Thanks for telling us," Branch thanked him. But he was skeptical. Wouldn't they have seen Poppy's bright pink ponytail, or her bright personality, always skipping and dancing—or even some of their other friends' colors in this dull, cloudy weather?

He wasn't about to do this man's job for him, though. If their friends were wandering the park wondering where they were, he wasn't about to stand here waiting for them as though they were waiting idly by, still in line. Come to think of it, that didn't really sound like something Poppy would do. And it wasn't like they were standing right next to the ride's exit.

So he turned to the group he was with. "Guys, we need to find our friends."

"S-sounds good to me," Harper said, teeth chattering violently. "Anything where I can move around and warm up."

"I'm on board," Biggie said. "I think Mr. Dinkles could use a change of scenery."

"I think I could too," Cooper said.

The twins were the only ones who hadn't yet agreed. Four heads turned their way. They exchanged a glance and nodded.

"Then let's go," Branch said. Maybe it was because he was still being pelted with cold rain and could barely think about anything else, but as he realized only a minute or so later, he had no idea where Poppy and the rest of the group could even be. Both of their groups were walking aimlessly through the park, no idea how to find each other.

Which was why he found it hard to answer Satin's next question: "Branch, where are we going?"

He hesitated for a moment before trying, scouring everything in sight in the hopes that he might catch a glimpse of his girlfriend.

No luck.

"I'm . . ." He sighed. "I'm not exactly . . . not exactly sure," he admitted. What was even worse was that while he needed to form a plan to efficiently find them, and to have the comfort of structure, the rest of them would most likely have no problem wandering around. So if he didn't come up with a plan on the spot and immediately put it into motion, he would have to let them drag him around for the rest of the day.

_Think_, he chastised himself. Poppy would be the one who was easiest to spot, so . . . no. But speaking of Poppy, wouldn't she be the one leading her group? And while Poppy was generally someone who got very determined, she also probably wouldn't see any problem with periodically stopping to get on a roller coaster, or something like that. So really, what they needed to think about were the places Poppy would want to go in this park.

"_But_ I have a plan," he announced the second it came to mind. "Poppy will be leading the other group, right? So where do you guys think Poppy would be the most likely to go?"

His friends exchanged glances, as though deciding on a communal answer telepathically. After a minute Harper looked at him and said, "She's with Smidge and she loves giving her friends what they want. They could either be in line for a roller coaster or playing some sort of competitive game."

Branch remembered that they weren't too far away from the arcade games—which were, conveniently, under a roof and therefore protected from the rain. He nodded to show that he'd been listening, then said, "Okay, then let's try the arcade games. They're right up there. Maybe Poppy will be there too."

The six friends made their way up the hill, past shops that sold food, dessert (no more of that for Branch, please) and some cheap games that were made to take money from you. Branch was glad that none of them were getting sidetracked.

That was, until he heard Cooper say excitedly, "Huge stuffed animals? I haven't had one of those in forever!"

_No no no we need to find Poppy no no no no _was what was running through Branch's head as he turned around to find Cooper already forking over quarters to play some crazy game that might let him win a stuffed animal. Biggie, Harper, Satin, and Chenille were standing at his side, captivated by the whole scene.

This was exactly what led him to believe that Poppy was not diligently searching for them.

"Guys, we need to find Poppy, remember? And Smidge, and Guy, and Suki, and Fuzzbert! There's no time for games like this! You'll never win!"

"Oh, there's _always_ time for games, Branch!" Cooper said, still carefully trying to score a giant stuffed animal. What did he even expect to do with a prize that big for the rest of the day? There was no way he could haul it around until 7 PM, especially if they ever found Poppy and the rain let up and they decided to go on another ride.

He didn't want to show any support for what Cooper was doing, but . . . standing so close to the game was providing his friends with a little bit of shelter from the heavy rain. So with a sigh, he went up to the counter too.

"So close! Want to try again?" he heard the woman operating the game say to Cooper. He was about to drag his friend away—"Cooper, don't do it"—but unfortunately, somehow, Cooper had already paid.

Branch sighed in defeat. With any luck, they'd get bored of this game on their own.

That was when he heard one of the phones in the purse Poppy had asked him to carry chime with a text.

Instinctively, he reached into the purse and pulled out the phone that was on top—Poppy's. Her lock screen showed that she'd gotten a text from Creek, but it didn't say what. That meant it was a picture or video.

_Creek?_ All Branch knew at that point was that a) he was curious, and b) he knew how to get into her phone. He wasn't really thinking when he unlocked it and went straight to the texts Creek had been sending her.

It was probably safe to say that what he saw next would scar him for the rest of his life.

Creek had been sending Poppy an incredible amount of nude photos. Branch was horrified, unsure what to think, and just stood staring at the photos while Cooper's cheering faded away into the background.

Then something else occurred to him: why? Why was Creek sending these? Was Branch really that bad of a boyfriend that Poppy was asking for them? Swallowing hard and bracing himself, he found himself scrolling up past all the awful nudes Creek had sent until he found something from Poppy's part of the conversation.

The most recent one declared, "I hate u." That was strong language for Poppy—like her "dammit" from earlier, he remembered. Either she was really upset with Creek, or she was adopting his speech habits.

Or it was playful, he realized, another wave of dread crashing over his body, and she actually liked what her old crush was doing. He scrolled to even older texts until he found another text that Poppy had sent: "STOP."

Scrolling faster, he found that all of the texts she'd sent were relaying the same message, all trying to get him to stop sending the photos. He also noticed that Creek had been sending these photos multiple times each day for the past few days.

Upon seeing that Poppy had nothing to do with the pictures, Branch felt a pang of relief—then guilt for feeling relief. The guilt was immediately followed by a feeling of terror upon the realization that Creek was part of the music department. Somewhere in this park, right now, the hippie was stripped naked and taking selfies.

And he had no idea where Poppy was.

Branch tried to dismiss the ridiculous idea—Poppy was with friends, and even if she wasn't, she was probably strong enough to get away from Creek. Still, he couldn't keep himself from worrying about her.

He put away Poppy's phone, tuning back into the rest of the world, and frantically turned back to his friends. "Guys, we really have to find Poppy—"

They were all grinning. "Okay, let's go!" Cooper said, his smile so wide it was a little weird to look at.

Somehow, it was only now that Branch noticed the gigantic stuffed bear that Cooper was holding. His jaw dropped.

"Cooper, _how_—how did you even manage—" he stammered. Those games were a huge scam for money, he was _sure _of it . . . yet Cooper had scored himself a prize in what was probably record time . . . the only word that came to mind was "how?"

"Not with an attitude like that, that's for sure!" Harper said to him with a smile. It was such a _Poppy_ thing to say that he might've laughed if he wasn't so uncomfortable with not having her around.

"Okay, well, congratulations," Branch finally said, impatient. "We really have to find our friends soon."

"Alright, if you say so, Branch," mocked Chenille, exchanging smiles with her sister.

He knew they were teasing him, but it was enough of a response for him to turn away from them and start walking. If they really cared, they'd follow him.

He knew he cared.

* * *

"No reason to panic," Poppy said to her group, only a short walk through the rain separating her and Branch—though, of course, neither of them knew it. The mayor's daughter smiled brightly and ran a hand through her hair, slicking back loose strands of hair with rain. "You know, they probably just went on a short walk. Moving to warm up, right?"

"So we have to WAIT here?" Guy asked. It was his usual dramatic demeanor, of course, but this time he was practically screeching. The man that had been behind them in line happened to be walking by and jumped as the loud noise echoed off of the restaurant they were standing next to.

Needless to say, their whole group received an impressively dirty glare mere seconds later.

Smidge growled back, but his back was already turned. A genuine (albeit small) smile appeared on Poppy's face. She would never wish misfortune on this man, but she had to admit it would've been entertaining if he'd noticed Smidge.

Stretching her smile wider—it slipped into the practiced smile she'd perfected over the years—she turned to Guy. "We don't have to wait. We'll walk around too, so that we don't get too bored and cold standing here."

"Where should we go, then?" Suki asked. When Poppy looked at her, she was shivering violently. No surprise. They'd been told it would be sunny, and Suki wore crop tops on sunny days.

Poppy wished she had something warm to give her friend, but everything she had that had once been warm was now soaking wet and therefore freezing cold. "There were some games not far from here, on the walk up to the arcade game section. We could walk up to a couple of those games, maybe play a few, then walk back. If they're just on a walk, they'll come back soon enough."

"Sounds good to me," Smidge said, already starting to walk. Fuzzbert was close behind her, mumbling an agreement (assumably). The rest of them followed.

The group stopped at a couple of games, one of which resulted in Guy winning a gigantic stuffed bear. As he turned back to the group with a smile, Suki gave him a big hug. "Great job!" she said.

Poppy bit her lip to suppress a grin and she exchanged an excited glance with Smidge. As she'd explained to Branch that morning, their whole friend group wanted Guy and Suki together.

The two watched intently (it seemed like Fuzzbert was too) as Suki pulled back and Guy smiled at her. Surprisingly, it wasn't one of his classic overly dramatic expressions, but a genuine smile as he looked at her.

Smidge and Poppy's smiles spread wider across their faces.

"Here, you can have it," Guy Diamond offered, holding the stuffed bear out to Suki.

Her face lit up as she took it from him. "Seriously, bro? Thanks!" She gave him another hug, huge teddy bear in hand.

Their friends were practically leaning forward now.

Unfortunately, they pulled away and turned toward their friends, smiling. "Should we head back now?" Suki asked.

Fuzzbert and Smidge both grumbled angrily at how anti-climatic it was, so Poppy put on a wide smile to compensate for both of them. "Sure! I mean, unless you see Branch or anyone around here."

As soon as the words escaped Poppy's mouth, the group went silent and started looking around for their friends.

Then, suddenly, Guy gasped, breaking the silence. He pointed further up the path, near the arcade game area. "I JUST SAW HARPER, YOU GUYS!" he announced, so loud it was practically an announcement to the whole park.

If only Harper had heard.

Suki, Poppy, Smidge, and Fuzzbert all gasped in unison, heads turning sharply to see what Guy was pointing at.

But Harper wasn't there.

"I don't see anything, Guy," Smidge said.

"There's a girl in a rainbow shirt. Maybe you thought it was Harper's hair?" Poppy suggested.

Guy frowned and crossed his arms, adamant. "No, it was Harper!" He scoffed dramatically, lifting his chin and looking away from them. "I cannot believe that my own friends don't believe me! My life is falling apart!"

Suki smiled and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer to the group so that she didn't have to explain his dramatic behavior to anyone. "Let's let Poppy decide where we go next."

They all looked at Poppy.

She smiled. "How about we walk back to the roller coaster to see if they're back there?"

Guy looked away moodily. "They won't be, though, since I saw Harper in the _opposite direction_." Of course, he was still being dramatic, but he sounded a little upset that no one was listening to him.

Naturally, Poppy gave him a quick hug. "If they're not there, then we'll go up to the arcade area and see if they're keeping themselves dry in there, okay?"

"If you _insist_," was Guy's reply, which made her happy.

The group made their way back to the roller coaster they'd wanted to ride, keeping an eye out for their friends as they went. Poppy stayed at the front of their group, all of her friends behind her—that way, they couldn't see the worried expression on her face. She knew it was bad to have all that negative energy, so she tried to think of all the positives of the situation.

For example, she would get to know Guy, Suki, Smidge, and Fuzzbert better than she already knew them. And this was the kind of adventure that they'd all laugh about later, anyways. Plus, even if they weren't able to find Branch and everyone else, everyone would end up on the same bus home by the end of the day. It would be fine.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, absorbing those ideas. It'd be fine, and they _would _find everyone before the end of the day.

When she opened her eyes, Smidge was standing next to her, looking up with a concerned face. "Poppy, are you okay?"

Poppy met her friend's eyes, smiling gently but genuinely. "Yep! I'm just wondering where Branch and the other group might be."

"Don't worry about them," Suki said from behind her.

"Yeah, they've got Branch to protect them. They're probably looking for us in all the most _logical_ places," Guy said. He still seemed like he was in a little bit of a bad mood from not being taken seriously.

"Guy is right," Smidge said. "We'll find each other sooner or later, and with plenty of time to spare!"

Fuzzbert mumbled something, then reached over and gave Poppy a hug through all that green hair. This prompted a group hug, which, of course, made her feel a lot better.

"Thanks for that, guys," she said when they all finally pulled back, spirits lifted, a lot more so than when she'd tried to lift them on her own. "I don't think they're over here," she added as they stopped in front of the restaurant.

Guy crossed his arms, shot them all an impressively angry look, and said, "I t-_old _you!" very dramatically. Well, nice to see he was back to his normal self.

"You were right," Suki acknowledged. "So we'll walk back to the arcade area?"

"Yeah," Poppy said. "If you _did_ see Harper, we'll just have to cross our fingers they'll still be there!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Harper and the rest of their group was just leaving the arcade.

Upon arriving, Branch ran his hand through his soaking-wet hair with a stressed-out sigh. "They're not here," he said irritably.

"You know, Smidge never ate anything earlier," Satin pointed out.

"Yeah, she was really hungry before she got in that roller coaster line," added Chenille.

"You think they're up at some of the restaurants?" Biggie asked.

"We could go up there, meet them, and then get a cupcake for everyone!" Cooper said, and they all cheered.

Branch really did not want to be forced to eat anything else sweet for the rest of the day—at the very thought of it, his stomach turned. But they had a point—Smidge had been complaining about being hungry for a while, and then forfeited lunch for a roller coaster. It made sense that they would be getting food so that they could focus on reuniting the groups instead of Smidge's hunger.

So he said, "Okay, let's try that. We'll check all the restaurants to see if they're there," and they departed, immersing themselves in the cold, pouring rain once more.

Little did they know that if they'd stayed for only a couple more minutes, they would've found their friends.

Unfortunately, they hadn't, and it only took a couple more minutes to walk uphill into the area near the entrance with all the restaurants. There were bakeries, candy shops, fast food restaurants, international restaurants, gift shops, and a Starbucks.

They ducked inside a couple of the restaurants and gift shops, but their friends were nowhere to be seen. Finally, they hid out in Starbucks, which was packed just like it was when they'd been there before. Still cold, still crammed, still wet.

After a few minutes had gone by and it became evident to all of them that they were doing nothing but standing around, Branch asked, "Shouldn't we be trying to find them?"

"But where would we look?" asked Biggie. Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, they started looking around at each other, hoping someone else would have an idea.

Harper shrugged. "I'm out of ideas."

"So am I," the twins said in unison.

"So am I!" Cooper said.

Branch sighed. He knew that he'd said he needed to spend more time away from Poppy, but this was the last thing he'd wanted. Not when they were separated in an amusement park with too few people for even the teachers to call one "group," and especially not when Creek kept sending Poppy nudes from somewhere in this park.

They had to find her—and, of course, the rest of her friends. But that wouldn't happen if no one had any ideas.

"Okay, well . . . we could walk back to the roller coaster and see if they're anywhere near there," he suggested, no specific locations coming to mind.

"Sure," said Harper.

The twins nodded, shivering. "It's not like it'll get any warmer in here," Satin said, exchanging a glance with her sister.

The group left Starbucks, slowly making their way through the pouring rain back to the roller coaster. They were around the arcade area again when Harper's phone rang.

The rainbow-haired teenager took out her phone, answered it, and ducked under the roof that protected the games from the weather. She motioned for her friends to follow her—which, of course, they did gladly, considering all the rain.

While she was on the phone, her face lit up, only making the rest of them more eager to find out who was on the other end and what they were saying to her.

She hung up not long after getting the call and said, wide smile on her face, "That was Moxie. She found Poppy and wants us to text where we are to her phone so that the rest of our friends can meet us."

Branch didn't think for a second before reacting, giving a relieved sigh and saying, "Oh, she's okay," in the sappiest voice he'd ever used in his life.

Needless to say, it provoked a lot of "_aww_"s from the group. He looked away, embarrassed, immediately.

"Alright," Harper said, looking up from her phone. "They'll be here in a minute."

Branch hadn't realized how worried he'd been about Poppy. Now, after learning that she was totally fine and she was on her way here, he felt he could breathe easier.

Finally, they showed up nearby, looking around for the rest of their friends. Biggie noticed them first and started waving, standing on his tiptoes as he attempted to flag them down. Branch saw Suki make eye contact with Biggie, then grab Poppy's shoulder and point to him.

Poppy's face lit up and she started waving to them, using the biggest arm motions possible to do so. She broke into a run in order to reach them, and when she did, she gave every one of her friends huge hugs. "I'm so glad we found you guys!" she exclaimed as she hugged them tightly.

Then Branch was the only one she hadn't hugged, and before he even knew what was going on, her lips were pressed up against his and her hands were in his hair. She drove him backwards into a wall, her passion evident.

As soon as he got over the initial shock, he put a hand on the back of her head and reciprocated the kisses—that was, until he remembered where they were and what they were doing.

Branch pulled away, blushing and trying not to breathe so heavily. He could feel all Poppy's friends' eyes on him, so he didn't look away from her face.

"Not right now, okay?" he murmured to her, one hand cupping her face.

She was looking up at him, breathless, as she nodded. "Okay."

He couldn't help but notice the way she was looking at him, the way she'd come straight up to him and started making out in public . . . and be envious of it, her ability not to care what others thought. It made him want to kiss her again and again and again, but he couldn't. Not here.

They pulled apart from each other, and Poppy bumped into Smidge, who quickly put away her phone with a sheepish smile. It took Branch a few full seconds to realize this meant she'd been recording them (_and _that she'd somehow managed to get her phone back from Poppy's purse, but Smidge's ability to do stuff like that probably shouldn't be ever be underestimated).

Poppy stared at her for a moment, probably coming to the same conclusion, then held out her hand and raised an eyebrow at Smidge. "C'mon, Smidge," she said to her friend playfully, but also seriously. "Give me the phone."

"But, Poppy . . . it's so adorable," Smidge tried to reason.

That made the pink-haired girl hesitate, but she (luckily) didn't change her mind. "Smidge . . ."

Smidge sighed, handing over her phone. "Fine."

Poppy quickly deleted the video and handed it back. "There. Perfect."

"It was fine when it had the video on it, too," Smidge said, giving her friend a look. She didn't look too upset, though, which was good—especially when it came to Smidge.

Poppy rolled her eyes good-naturedly, then turned to face the whole, reunited group. "So where should we go now?"

The answers came all at once, all different and overlapping. "A roller coaster!" said Smidge.

"A restaurant," said Guy.

"A restaurant, and then anywhere that I can sleep," said Suki at the same time. She shared a smile with Guy.

"I think Mr. Dinkles is hungry," Biggie said, which wasn't exactly an answer.

"Wherever you guys want is fine," said Harper.

Fuzzbert mumbled something that sounded like he was in agreement with Harper.

The rest of them looked around at each other and shrugged, as though they couldn't compete with what had already been said.

"Well, it sounds like we should go to a restaurant, then!" Poppy exclaimed. Somehow she'd been able to decipher every last word they said, and with a smile on her face, even though it'd all been overlap. Branch's mind had barely even had time to catch up to what was happening. "Any suggestions?"

"We've been into Starbucks _twice_ already," said Satin, exchanging a glance with her sister.

Chenille shook her head, obviously agreeing with what Satin was saying. "Yeah, I don't think I could go near there again without getting something."

Poppy smiled and, with a small laugh, said, "To Starbucks, then! Again!" Her friends walked out into the pouring rain and she grabbed Branch's hand before joining the back of the group.

"So how was your day?" she asked him as they started walking toward the restaurant area again, a big smile on her face. "Or at least the part when I wasn't there, 'cause the rest was obviously great."

Branch laughed a little, then became hyperaware of the weight of Poppy's purse on his body. "Well, um . . . you got a text from Creek. Multiple texts, actually."

The smile fell off her face immediately, and he felt guilty for being responsible. "We don't have to talk about that if you don't want to, though," he added quickly.

She sighed, not letting go of his hand. "No, it's okay. I'm sorry you had to see that."

He gave her a funny look, surprised that she was apologizing for that. "I'm sorry _you_ had to see that. When did they start?"

"As soon as Creek found out we were dating, which I guess was like the day after or something? It's fine though, I'm dealing with it."

Branch stopped in his tracks, their intertwined fingers stopping Poppy too. "Poppy," he said, smiling knowingly at her. "Have you even told anyone?"

She sighed again, but this time she had a small, almost relieved smile on her face. "No . . ."

"Then how exactly are you dealing with it?"

They started to walk again as Poppy answered hesitantly. "I'm just trying everything I can to rebel against Creek. You know, I actually _modeled_ myself after him for so long . . ." She sounded disgusted with herself.

Branch looked at her, surprised by how upset she looked, how upset at _herself_. "Poppy, you realize none of that was your fault, right?"

The pink-haired girl looked up at her boyfriend quickly and with a smile, almost as though she'd forgotten she was talking to anyone other than herself. "What? Right, yeah, I know."

Branch squinted at her for a second, almost jokingly. "If you say so," he eventually said.

"Well, I do say so," she said, lifting her chin a little dramatically, and, without letting go of his hand, marching forward all high-and-mighty.

Her boyfriend laughed and jogged forward to catch up. "Oh wow, you spend an hour with Guy and start acting like this? Should we just cut your ties to him forever?" he teased.

Poppy gasped. "But then I'll never see him and Suki become a couple!"

"_What_ a tragedy," he deadpanned.

"Yeah, it is," she answered, now facing him. Randomly, she lifted a hand to his head and said, "I wish your hair was dry. Your hair is so nice when it's dry."

"And I wish the whole park was dry, but we can't always have what we want," was his response, after giving her a funny look for the inconsistency of the conversation. Then again, when had Poppy ever been predictable? Steering it back onto track, he asked, "So . . . do you have any ideas for what to do about Creek? Come on, brainstorm with me."

"Um, I dunno . . ."

"You could . . ." he prompted her as they kept walking forward.

"I could . . . print them out . . ." She was hesitant.

"That's good. Print them out and send them to . . ."

She perked up. "His sister?"

Branch didn't want a big smile to spread across his face at his next idea, like some sort of twisted villain, but he couldn't help it. "Or the rest of his family, maybe? Has he got a religious grandmother or anything like that?"

Poppy grinned evilly too, which made him feel a bit better about himself. She touched his shoulder and said, "Oh Branch, you sweet innocent fool. A boy like Creek? He's got _two_ religious grandmothers, both right here in town."

They were making eye contact with each other, fully understanding what a great idea this was, when there was another alert from inside Poppy's purse (which, Branch realized, he was still carrying). He took Poppy's phone, handed the purse back to her, and said, "You mind if I respond to him this time?"

"Go ahead," she said, looking tired of all the photos Creek kept sending as she took her purse and her friends' phones back.

Branch unlocked the phone, considered what to say for a moment, then typed:

_WTF are you doing, sending all these pictures after being told to stop? Unless you forgot what "stop" means and need to go back to first grade. If you need that, just let me know—I can definitely arrange it._

He showed it to Poppy before sending it. She grinned and gave him a thumbs up. "_Please_ send that."

He smiled at her praise—then frowned at the screen a little more. "Should I make it look more like you wrote it? Like—" Quickly, he edited the message, and showed it to her again.

"Um, take away the 'k' and the 'w' from 'know'," she advised.

"Right," he said, then teased, "I forgot you're too lazy to type two extra letters."

"Yeah, you mean busy," she countered, tapping him on the nose with a playful smile. "Busy making sure _you_ don't ruin anyone's fun."

Two weeks ago, he might've been irked by that. Now, he just put a hand on his chest and raised an eyebrow like he was shocked, playing along. "Me? Ruin anyone's fun? You must be confusing me with someone else."

"Mmhmm," she said, a twinkle in her eye as she leaned up to kiss him. "I like you _and_ your evil twin brother, though."

Suddenly, Poppy pulled away from him in a rough manner. Smidge had grabbed one of her hands and was pulling her back toward the group, and since she'd been holding Branch's hand, she was pulling him along behind her. "Wait, Smidge, what . . ?" she asked as their chain of bodies moved across the pavement.

"As adorable as it is, you two are too caught up in your own affairs to realize that you're way behind the rest of us," Smidge explained, her deep voice sounding impatient.

"You have another video?" Branch asked, wondering how many they'd have to delete before it became old news.

Smidge sighed as they approached their group. "I wanted to," she said, glaring at everyone. "But they all stopped me."

"Thanks," Branch said, mustering a small smile to offer them (though it wasn't like he really wanted to look them in the eyes and admit that what he'd been doing with Poppy was . . . anything at all, honestly).

"Yeah, thanks. And it's great how excited you are about this, Smidge," Poppy said, smiling although they were all soaking wet and freezing. "Alright, come on. Let's go get some actual food!" All of a sudden, she stuck one fist into the air and put on a burst of speed, sprinting ahead of them in a superhero pose and practically knocking people out of the way. It looked like something out of a sitcom.

The rest of them followed her at a pace that was closer to normal, Branch making sure he didn't stray too far from the group this time. Still, he kept himself distanced enough that none of them would try to make polite conversation with him. As usual, he was in no mood to talk to anyone he barely knew.

* * *

When her friends finally caught up with her and entered Starbucks, Poppy was sitting at a small table, bored. She didn't know how she'd managed to claim the table when she'd gotten there, since it was _so crowded_, but she was glad she had.

When her friends arrived, she grinned, boredom melting away. Guy came through the door first, and like usual, he immediately put on a show. He struck a pose at the doorway and announced, "Guy Diamond is here! You are in the presence of a superstar!"

About half the people looked up, then went back to ignoring him.

Guy scoffed dramatically, putting a hand on his heart, mock-offended. "Fine! Just ignore the greatest moment that will ever happen in your entire life!"

Suki had to push past him to let the rest of them into the shop, Poppy noticed with a smile. Soon all of her soaking-wet friends (not that she was judging; she was just the same) were crowding around her at the tiny table she'd saved.

She leaned up to kiss Branch hello, then attempted to give her friends a group hug around the table. The table, though, seemed to have different plans, so the hug turned out pretty awkward. Still fun.

"Are you guys gonna get something?" Poppy asked, already searching through her soggy purse for the money she'd brought. The money was now soggy, too, and some of the coins were stuck together with pieces of wet paper from the park maps they'd stuffed in her purse, but it was still money. It still had worth. She piled it all on the table. "Use as much as you need."

Some of her friends had brought their own money, so they declined her offer. Others took a little from the pile she'd put on the table. Poppy grabbed a little of her own before putting it away.

Grinning, she waved it at Branch. "I'm gonna get you something sugary!" she singsonged.

"Oh please don't," he whined, turning and following her into the long line. The next thing she knew, her wet hair was cascading into her face.

She turned to face him, pink hair in her face and a hand on her hip, a playful _Seriously?_ look on her face. Standing behind her, he'd flipped her high ponytail forward.

In response, he just smirked and crossed his arms, teasing her.

"Well now I'm getting you _two_ sugary . . . _things_," she said, not being able to think of a better word.

"And I'll give one away," he said, gesturing to the many people around them. "Maybe even both. I'm sure I could find someone who wants one."

Poppy gasped. "You're going to . . . _regift_ them?"

"If you buy me more than one," he said.

"Fine. But there'll be more stuff later today," she insisted.

"I'm not going to be able to talk you out of it, am I?"

She grinned proudly. "Nope!"

They waited in line for about ten minutes. While they were waiting, their designated chaperone texted them to make sure they weren't lost—lucky timing, since they'd just reunited their group. Poppy took a picture of everyone from her vantage point in line and sent them to the chaperone.

Finally, it was their turn. Poppy ordered a couple of drinks for them, purposely looking for one that was high in sugar when choosing Branch's. She needed his body to get used to sugar, so he could come with them when they all went out for ice cream and such.

She could tell he wasn't paying attention . . . until she grinned and leaned in to tell the barista who Branch's drink was for. She threw a glance over her shoulder and saw him raising an eyebrow at her. Obviously, he knew that she was giving him a ridiculous name. And obviously, he wouldn't find out what it was until it was announced to the whole store.

When she stood up straight again, finished telling the barista what she wanted Branch to be called, he asked out loud, "With a 'y' or an 'i-e'?"

Poppy looked at Branch again, grinning at his reaction. He rolled his eyes, looking away with crossed arms. She turned back to the barista and said, "Well, I think . . . an 'i-e' makes more sense for him, right?"

He nodded and finished writing on the cup. She paid and they rejoined their friends (those of them that weren't still in line, that was—so, only Harper and Guy Diamond. "How're you holding up in all the rain?" she asked them cheerfully.

Guy Diamond was already hunched in on himself, rubbing his arms to stay warm, when she asked. Now he curled up even more, falling on the floor from one of the two chairs the small table offered. "I'm freezing to death!" he announced. "Tell my family I love them!"

Poppy laughed and helped him up. "Of course, but you've got to die first," she said. "Harper, what about you?"

"What about me? I'm cold and I'm wet," she replied, ticking the two things off on her fingers. "That's pretty much it."

Poppy frowned a little. Something was off about Harper, she could tell. Still, she couldn't put a finger on it.

So instead she hugged her friend. "Hopefully the rain will let up later and we can dry off somehow. Do you have an extra change of clothes on the bus?"

"Yeah," Harper said, hugging her back. "Thanks, Poppy," she added when they pulled back.

"No problem," was Poppy's response.

After a couple of minutes, her moment of glory came. Just as she'd wanted, an employee called, "Vanilla frappuccino for, uh . . ." She saw him look around as though wondering if he was reading it right, then continue with a confused expression, "'My Adorable Branchie'?" He set it down and walked away, getting back to work.

Poppy grinned and burst into laughter. "Go up there and get it, Branch!" she said, making shooing motions with her hands.

"Wow Poppy, I really hate you sometimes, you know that?" he told her, giving her the stink eye as he moved to go get the drink she got him. When he got back, he took a sip and said, "I don't even want to know how much sugar is in here, do I?"

"Mm . . . probably not," she said, smiling, and kissed him, caressing his face and smiling at him once she pulled back.

She snapped out of her trance quickly, though. "Wait, didn't I order one for myself?"

Harper laughed a little, obviously amused by her train of thought. "Did you put it under the name you gave Branch?"

"Maybe," she said, eyebrows furrowed as she headed up to the counter with all the unclaimed drinks on it (naturally, there were a lot in such a crowded, loud store). She found another drink with the same label, so Harper had been right. She hadn't thought to give her own drink a different name.

Whatever.

She took it and walked back to the table, sipping at it as her boyfriend teased, "Tell me it doesn't have as much sugar as mine does."

"Um . . ." Poppy glanced at the menus on the wall that she'd consulted while making her choices. "Actually, it doesn't. You're the one who needs to build up a sugar resistance, so . . ." She shrugged.

"A 'sugar resistance'? If I'm healthier from _not_ eating so much sugar, then what is trying to give me diabetes going to do for you?"

She waved him off, rolling her eyes like he was being ridiculous. "You couldn't even finish that tiny bowl of froyo. How do you expect to come get ice cream with us all the time?"

"Okay, first of all," he said, holding up a hand defensively, "that was not a 'tiny bowl of froyo.' There was a _lot_ of frozen yogurt in there."

"See, the problem is that you're thinking so negatively like that—"

"And _second _of all—"

Suddenly they both stumbled backwards, apart from each other, to reveal Smidge standing at their feet. She looked angry as she made eye contact with both of them and said slowly, "Stop. Fighting." It was a threat more than anything else.

"Smidge is right, guys," Harper said, intently watching the scene from her spot at the table, "even if it's not fighting so much as banter. Branch, calm down and drink what Poppy paid for. Poppy . . ." When Poppy looked at her, she smiled teasingly. "Don't poison your boyfriend in the first week you're together."

Poppy had to laugh. "Okay."

She had hoped that the rain would stop, the sun would come out, everything would miraculously become dry, and she'd be warm again, but even as her friends slowly returned from the line and they all sipped at their drinks together, it stayed cold and pouring out.

Poppy and Branch were two of the first to finish—Branch didn't look particularly comfortable after drinking the whole thing, but it'd pass—and the Starbucks was connected to some sort of other store that always had its doors open (part of the reason why it was so cold inside). The other store sold bags/backpacks, other accessories and souvenirs, and expensive sweatshirts, so they (along with Harper, who'd never gotten anything) went to go browse it.

"It looks so warm and comfy," was the first thing Poppy said when she got in, gazing wistfully at a big gray sweatshirt.

"How much does it cost, and how much do we have?" Branch asked from another area of the store without even looking.

She sighed, giving the back of his head a look. "Why do you always have to think about the boring part first?"

He turned around and reciprocated the face she was making. "You'd rather shoplift it? From an _amusement park_?"

"No . . . but—"

"Then tell me how much it costs and how much you have."

Poppy quickly compared the prices and sighed, realizing it was slightly too expensive . . . then perked up again and sidled up to Branch. "You brought some money, _sweetheart_, didn't you?"

"Not if you have a reason to call me 'sweetheart' in your request for it, I didn't," he answered without hesitation.

The smile slipped off her face and she pouted.

"Do you seriously want me to spend money on a sweatshirt that will get soaked in the first five minutes you wear it outside?"

"This is what I mean when I say you think of all the boring stuff first."

"The _important_ stuff, you mean," he retorted, and they both went back to browsing.

As before, their friends quickly caught up with them. "Guys, maybe we should pool our money and buy one bag to put everyone's stuff in," suggested Suki.

"Why?" Smidge asked bluntly. Her tone made it very obvious that she thought that was a pointless waste of money.

"So it doesn't get as wet and when we go on rides, we can just leave the one bag behind," Suki said.

"But one person would have to carry it, and it might be too heavy," Smidge argued.

"Says Smidge," teased Satin and Chenille in surprisingly perfect unison.

"Yeah Smidge, _you_ could carry it," Cooper said. "That would be perfect."

"But I don't want to. Biggie could carry it," Smidge said

"Only if it has a nice spot for Mr. Dinkles," Biggie agreed.

"Wait, no, I don't want _anyone_ carrying it," Smidge said, "'cause it's a bad idea."

"Fine," Suki said, but she seemed upset.

To try and break the tension, Poppy pulled out her phone and, ignoring all the unsolicited messages from Creek (apparently Branch's more-threatening response hadn't done anything), checked the time. "Hey, all our classmates who didn't go on the trip have finished school by now."

Branch just stared at her. "Is that supposed to make us feel better about having to hide from the cold rain in a cold coffee shop? Knowing that they're all probably curled up with blankets, popcorn, and a movie at home right now?"

"Not if you say it like that," she teased him. "Hey, will you look at all Creek's new pictures so my phone won't say I have any new texts?" She tried to hand him her phone.

"Why would I want to see them any more than you would?" He didn't take it from her.

"I dunno, because you're a guy," she answered, pressing her phone into his chest.

"Which means I want to see Creek's naked body? That doesn't even make sense." He took her phone and tried to give it back to her, but now she was the one who wouldn't take it.

"Creek's naked body? What on earth are you guys talking about?" Suki asked.

"Nothing," Poppy said. She quickly took her phone back and put it away.

"You don't mean that," Harper said, reaching for her purse.

"No, Harper, I do," Poppy said, flinching away from her—but Smidge's height put the small girl at an advantage, and Poppy watched as her phone was stolen right out from under her.

Smidge unlocked it easily, and it was obvious that both Poppy and Branch were holding their breath as she opened Creek's contact on text messages. Poppy watched a look of utter disgust and horror appear on Smidge's face as she saw all the nudes.

She actually dropped the phone. "I'M SCARRED!" she screamed, drawing more attention than Guy had when he'd announced his presence earlier. When she continued, "I'M SCARRED FOR LIFE!" he started applauding.

"Wait, _what _are you looking at?" Chenille asked, and picked it up off the floor. She and her sister both looked at it, Suki and Biggie huddling over their shoulders to see it as well.

"_Ohhhhhh_ goodness . . ." murmured Satin, paling as she saw it. Biggie covered Mr. Dinkles' eyes immediately.

Suki took the phone next, holding it out to Cooper, Harper, and Guy Diamond without looking herself. "Who else wants to burn their eyes out?"

"_I'd_ like to see what all the fuss is about," Guy said, taking the phone confidently—then he hurled it into the air as soon as he saw. "Disgusting! What kind of an awful, filthy, _molecular_ rodent would do this?"

Branch started laughing. "Guy, do you even know what that means?"

"Does it matter? I have their attention," he whispered back. Of course, Smidge was the one who had made everyone look their way, but Guy was the one who was reaping the benefits, and frankly, the only one who really cared.

So naturally, he reacted in the most Guy Diamond-ish way possible when a Starbucks employee walked up and informed them that they were causing a disturbance.

"A disturbance? Us? _Us_?" He grabbed Poppy's phone off the ground and shoved the awful pictures in the employee's face. "_He_ is the one causing a disturbance, not us!" Guy came over and slung an arm around Poppy's shoulder. "My poor, poor young friend here is only in high school, and we come to find out that this awful, molecular _creeper_ is sending her nude pictures from somewhere in the amusement park!"

Branch hid his face in his hand and laughed harder.

"And yet you say we are the ones causing a disturbance! US!" His eyes skimmed over the employee's name tag and he continued, "_Larry_, I've never been so insulted!"

"My name is Lawrence," he said.

Now Guy's arm was around Larry's shoulder. "Ah, yes, Lawrence. But we're friends, aren't we, so I get to call you Larry. I feel so close to you already!"

"But my name is—"

"So, my _dear_ friend Larry, will you help us find this awful breaker of child pornography laws?"

"Um . . . I dunno. I can talk to my boss, I guess."

"You go ahead and do that. We'll be waiting here for you, Larry," Guy Diamond said, and Larry walked away.

It might've been Poppy's imagination, but every customer in the store seemed on the edge of their seats as they waited for Larry to come back and give them the news.

It didn't take too long. "Sorry, my boss says it's not our problem when we have so many customers. Bye."

"What? Larry, I trusted you! Our friendship is _over_! Do you hear me? _Over_! I have never been so betrayed!" Guy Diamond said.

Poppy thought she heard Larry whisper, "Good," under his breath as he walked back to work.

"In fact, I'm done with this store! I will never come back here again!" Guy stormed back out into the cold rain.

Poppy hurried after him, hoping he was just being dramatic and that he wouldn't actually ask anyone for help. She realized that she wanted to let Creek think he was winning, until his grandmothers got the printed edition of all those pictures he'd been sending. Her friends all followed her out.

Branch got to her first, touching her shoulder gently to get her to turn around. "You left your phone on the floor," he reminded her, handing it back to her.

"Oh! Thanks, Branch," she said, kissing him on the cheek. "Wow, it got really cracked."

"Do you need to get it fixed? I'll take you tomorrow if you want," he offered.

"Um, it's just the screen protector. But thanks for the offer," she said, smiling at him.

"Wow," he joked. "Poppy? Actually take the precaution of using a screen protector? I'm shocked."

She laughed and shoved him playfully. "Come on, it's not _that_ surprising."

"It is," he said, nodding decisively.

"Ugh, fine, if you _say so_," she responded, then hugged him. "I'm cold."

"I don't see how touching my wet clothes will solve that problem." But he was already hugging her back.

"Wait . . . clothes?" Cooper said. "That's it!"

"What?" asked the twins, drawn in by the word "clothes."

"We can go in the bathrooms and dry our clothes in the drying thingies!"

"That's a good idea, Cooper!" Poppy said, still resting her head against Branch's chest. "What do you guys think?"

There seemed to be unanimous agreement among the group, and they weren't even very far from the bathrooms, so it didn't take long to walk there. The girls and boys split into their respective bathrooms, ready to dry their clothes.

When Poppy and the rest of her female friends walked in, there were only two available electric-dryer things—certainly not one for each of them—so they had to huddle around, taking turns drying their shirts in there.

"So, Poppy . . ." Smidge said as they stood next to each other, both trying to dry their shirts (not that their undergarments weren't absolutely soaking, too, but they weren't going to take those off in front of everybody) at the same time. "How are you and Branch doing?"

Poppy laughed. "That's the same thing you guys asked me on the bus this morning. I really don't think the answer is going to be any different," she said. As the words came out of her mouth, the feelings from the bus came back, too. Their constant questions made her feel as though they wanted something to go wrong, and she had to shake off that feeling. "Yeah, we're fine. Any developments with you and Milton?"

Smidge sighed. "No. I think he stayed at school today."

"Oh. Tomorrow I'll invite him to the mall if you want. Me and Branch and you and him can watch a movie together, like a double date or something."

Smidge turned red. It was kind of adorable to see Smidge turn red, to be honest, because it was the only time she showed any vulnerability—ever. "I don't know, Poppy. I mean, I don't have any other plans, but what if he figures out—"

"Too late, I already invited him. Let me just get some movie tickets . . . and, done!"

"What? Poppy, no! Turn on airplane mode so the text won't go through—"

"He says yes."

"Poppy!"

Poppy grinned. "No regrets!" She turned to the group. "Are you all done drying your shirts?"

They all were, so they put them back on and went outside, where the boys were waiting for them. The rain was also waiting for them.

"Poppy, what was the point of this? We're just gonna get wet again," Suki pointed out as they all got drenched again.

"Yeah . . ." Poppy realized. "Maybe we should come back and do this at the end of the day."

"You know what would be a good idea right now?" Branch said.

Everyone turned to him. "What?" his girlfriend asked.

"Water rides."

* * *

**There's the chapter! I want to have the next one up a month from now, but I might be on vacation for part of that time, so again, no promises. As always, tell me what you thought in the reviews, and no flames! Thanks! **


	4. Going Home

**Okay, so this chapter is half the length of the last one and probably also half the level of interesting-ness. I'm sorry about that, and I'm also sorry that this took so long. This chapter is basically just a transition from the last one to the next one, which is one I've already planned out. **

**This is also (probably) the last chapter I'll be able to post before I have to go back to school and I have a lot less time for writing, since break ends Monday. However, I'm planning to go on a fanfiction-writing spree this weekend, so I'll probably have, at the very least, a few fluff pieces for you soon enough. **

**Anyway!**

**QuickestSecret**—**you were the first to review and reassure me that I'd published a good chapter (and help inspire me to write the next one!) so thank you so much for that!**

**AutumnWritesTrolls**—**I was overtired when I first saw your review and it made me grin for probably an unhealthy amount of time. Thank you so, so much for letting me know how you feel about my writing as I go.**

**Okay, I'll let you guys enjoy the short chapter now!**

* * *

Branch wasn't used to being in the spotlight. Sure, all he'd done was make a suggestion about how to spend their time, but he felt like a shy kindergartener that had been called on to answer a question. Keyword there being _shy._ It made him very uncomfortable.

But soon the words were out and the focus was on the idea. Poppy got the most excited, naturally, and it made him smile watching a big smile spread across her face. "Oh my gosh, Branch, that's such a good idea!" She gave him a big hug and a kiss. "I mean, we're already soaked, so why not make the best of it?"

He just shrugged, not really knowing what else to do. It was just an idea he'd thought of, nothing impressive.

Luckily Poppy carried the conversation from there. "Come on, I think they're this way!" she said, turning away from her friends. "Follow me!"

Branch noticed Smidge cross her arms and mutter, "No, thanks." She shot an angry glance at the back of Poppy's head. While it didn't look like classic Smidge anger—more a mix of angry, playfulness, and humiliation—he couldn't help but wonder what Poppy possibly could've done in such a short time to make her that upset.

Guy didn't seem to notice and asked, "Smidge! Piggyback ride?"

Maybe Guy was the only one who could ask that without getting Smidge angry for being treated differently due to her size. Probably, because instead of glowering at him like she was prepared to end his life right there, her face lit up and she ran over to him.

Branch kept watching as the group started walking, and Smidge used the top of Guy's head as a desk for her to write something on a scrap of red construction paper (where she'd gotten the paper or the pen, he had no idea). He watched, mesmerized, as she held the scrap in her hand until Guy walked up next to Poppy, at which point Smidge wedged the paper into Poppy's wet ponytail.

Nobody else seemed to notice. Branch, who was taller than his girlfriend, probably could've just walked over and grabbed the paper before the water from her hair soaked it through. But if he did that, he'd be risking making Smidge mad, which was definitely not what he wanted to do, especially since he was just starting to fit in with Poppy's group of friends. Maybe later, he could tell her that she had a soggy piece of paper in her hair.

Now Poppy was smiling at whatever Guy had been saying to her while Smidge had been putting paper in her hair. "Oh, that's a great idea too!" she said, then turned back to the whole group, walking backward. "Apparently the rain is gonna let up soon, and there are a couple of non-roller-coaster rides near the water area, so we can do those before the water rides. Sound good?"

It seemed to be a unanimous yes, so Poppy turned back around and they all kept walking. Strangely enough, Smidge only added more paper, words scribbled on each piece, to Poppy's ponytail.

By the time they got to the rides Guy had (apparently) been talking about, the rain had let up a little, as promised. The weather was about the same as it had been when they'd first arrived.

"Why don't we go on that ride?" Satin suggested, pointing at one they were passing. "It's just like the one from this morning, only lower to the ground."

"Yeah, so Biggie can come with us!" Chenille said, the twins exchanging a smile. "Right, Biggie?"

"Um . . . okay! It doesn't look too bad," Biggie agreed.

"Great! Let's get in line!" Poppy said, smiling at them.

They were all moving to get in line when Satin and Chenille, who were in front of Branch, were stopped by an old lady who was smiling at them—sweetly, but with some other aspect to it that he couldn't quite name.

Satin and Chenille seemed to recognize it, though, and put on two identical smiles that were obviously forced. The old lady said, "You two are so brave. Keep doing what you're doing," and kissed both of them on the forehead.

"Thank you," Satin said.

"That means so much," overlapped Chenille, both of them wearing their fake smiles.

Satisfied, the old lady walked away.

Branch turned to Poppy, who'd walked up next to him, and whispered to her, "What was that about?" as the twins got in line.

"Oh, that lady? She thought they were a couple. Some people don't look at their conjoined hand closely enough." She shrugged. "Doesn't happen often, especially since we live in a small town and most of us know they're twins, but occasionally."

Branch nodded. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"I dunno, answering my question . . ?" He shrugged, smiling a little sheepishly, not really sure what he should've said instead of "thanks."

"You're cute," she said, smiling up at him and giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Since the line was short, it didn't take long for all of them to be able to get on the ride. Unfortunately, Smidge ended up behind Poppy and Branch, so he didn't even try to get the paper out of her hair.

Then again, it was quite possible that Smidge had done this just to mess with him . . . but then again, she'd seemed so angry at Poppy . . . but maybe they'd been plotting against him in the girls' bathroom . . . it seemed like something Poppy would do . . .

He decided to just ignore all the scraps of paper.

The ride started up and Poppy looked over her shoulder at Smidge and Suki. "Guys, remember Fredson?" she called as they got higher in the air. "Let's honor him!"

All at once, their whole group started singing at the top of their lungs, "WHERE OH WHERE OH WHERE IS FREDSON?" As usual, Guy didn't forget to add the "bum-bum" onto the end, a sound he ended up screaming into the air.

Here was the thing: they weren't the only ones on the ride. Yes, their large group took up most of it, but there were still a couple other people (high-school-aged, to make it that much worse, though from their clothing it was obvious that they weren't part of the Sunny Willows field trip group). Branch bit his lip, caught between laughing and cringing as he saw their bewildered looks.

But it didn't end there. His friends kept screaming the lyrics to their made-up theme song, laughing hysterically between lines, until the ride ended and they were laughing so hard they could barely get off.

As they were supposed to be getting off, Poppy was laughing so hard she nearly fell to the ground. "Branch, come on, you should've sung with us!"

He helped her stand up straight. "That was not singing, it was screaming. And it's like you can't remember how to walk because of it." He didn't mention that just watching them had tested his often-called-upon ability to suppress laughter (how many times had he decided that he shouldn't encourage Poppy and her crazy shenanigans?).

"I'm sorry, I just—" She buried her face in his shoulder and laughed some more.

"Okay, here, come on." Almost as though she was sick, he helped her walk over to the exit—then stepped back and crossed his arms. "Take a minute to calm down, please. All of you."

It took them more than a minute (three minutes, at the very least, which made Branch wonder if this had somehow become an inside joke while he wasn't around), but eventually they did calm down.

"Okay, okay, guys," Poppy said, regaining control like always. "There are water rides right over there, but first, does anyone else want to suggest a ride?"

"Nope, let's go on the water roller coasters!" Smidge said immediately. Since the group remained silent, she grinned and started running, full-speed, toward the rides.

The first one required them getting on a circle-shaped float sort of thing, but since they had so many people, they ended up taking two of them. The ride started quickly, and although they ended up somehow _more_ soaked than they'd been before, there was shrieking and giggling and actual _fun_—none of which had been found in nearly any of the events earlier.

When it was over, they decided to try out a couple of the other rides before coming back to that one (due to the time it had taken to walk there, they only had about an hour, maybe even just forty-five minutes, before they had to get back to the buses).

On the second ride, Branch wound up next to Poppy again, and decided he would at least bring up the slips of paper Smidge had been putting in her hair.

"So . . ." he said, gathering them in his hand and holding them out for her to see. "Did you have any idea that Smidge was putting these in your hair?"

"What?" she asked, taking the limp, wet construction paper from him and carefully examining what was left of the angry black scribbles on each of them. "Smidge did that? And put it in my hair?"

He nodded. Apparently she wasn't in on it. "She seemed kind of mad at you since you guys came out of the bathroom. I figured she was writing you notes or something, but I guess not."

"Oh, right." She gave a little chuckle, then looked up at him, almost seeming nervous. "Um . . . you're free tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah—" He realized too late that he probably should've considered what she was asking him to do before revealing that, especially with the sheepish way she was looking at him. "Wait, why?"

"So, in case you haven't noticed, our friend Smidge has a _huge_ crush on Milton. Do you know him? Anyway, she gets really shy around him, so I invited him on a double date with us tomorrow?" The sheepishness returned to her face around the end of her sentence, her pitch rising, turning it into a question. "At the mall. She was furious that I did it without her consent, but how else are they gonna get together?" Poppy shrugged, obviously free of any regret.

"The mall?" Branch asked, still a little wary. Because of the range of activities, that could be good or bad. "What are we gonna do there?"

"I got movie tickets. So we can have lunch there or whatever, then you don't have to talk anymore, okay?"

He couldn't help but smile at her thoughtfulness. "Okay."

The ride started, and just like last time, they were thoroughly doused with water. When they got off, Branch couldn't help but notice that there was a "drying station" next to the ride (even though the rain had let up, it was still probably most helpful on a sunny day). Maybe they'd use it later, he thought as he let Poppy drag him back into line.

Nothing else particularly interesting happened on those rides, at least nothing more interesting than what they'd already been through that day. But that didn't mean it wasn't fun. In fact, even though there was barely any time left before they had to leave, it was probably the most uplifting thing that had happened the whole time they'd been in the park.

He hated to interrupt the fun, but he eventually got stressed out that they would miss the bus, since it was kind of a long way back to the park. When they got off the next ride, he called Poppy's name to get her attention before she could build the hype about yet another ride.

She turned to look at him. "Yeah?" she asked. Just from her voice, it was obvious that she knew this wasn't an addressing-the-whole-group conversation.

"We've only got a little while left before we've got to be back on the buses. If you don't want to miss the bus, we should probably start walking back now."

Poppy studied his face for a moment, maybe processing the question, maybe for some other reason, but it didn't matter because the next thing she did was turn to her friends and gather them up for the walk back. The amazing thing was how quickly she was able to do it: in less than a minute (especially impressive because the conversations were one-on-one), not only had she gotten every last one of them on board with the plan, but they seemed excited about it.

When she rejoined Branch, slipping her hand into his for the walk back, he couldn't help but ask, "How do you get them so excited so fast?"

She glanced over her shoulder at her friends, then smiled as she answered, "I dunno, I've just kind of been doing it my whole life." Her smile turned sheepish as she looked up at him and added, "_But_ I may have also promised that if there was any time left we could go on another ride before we left."

Branch couldn't help but think about that as they walked back, completely zoned out while his legs did the work for him. "_I've just kind of been doing it my whole life_." Yet another reminder of how different their lives were.

When they arrived, halfway back to the park's entrance, at the diner where half of them had eaten lunch and half of them had ended up stuck in a line for a roller coaster, it became apparent that there was more than enough time left—about twenty-five minutes before 7:00 PM, the time when they were supposed to be on the buses.

Smidge was the first to notice that the roller coaster she'd originally wanted to go on was open again, and she gasped, obviously in a very different mood than the angry one that had inspired her to put random scribbles in Poppy's hair. "It's open again! Let's all go on the roller coaster!"

"But Smidge! I thought we were going to be late for the bus!" Guy Diamond was the one calling his friend back.

Suki checked the bedazzled watch on her wrist. "Nah, we're good. Besides, we've got to have some sort of last hurrah today."

Smidge shot Guy a glare which was clearly inspired by her lack of patience. "Listen to Suki, Guy!"

"What do you mean? I'd love to go on the roller coaster!" Guy replied, becoming a little defensive. As always, it was accompanied by a touch of drama, and he put a hand on his heart as though deeply offended by his friend's statement.

"But I'm not going on, you guys," Biggie said, shaking his head. "And I don't want to get split up again."

Branch noticed the wistful glance Poppy shot in the direction of the ride, but she ended up looking at Biggie, pointing at the diner where she'd never gotten to have lunch, and said, "Maybe we can get a milkshake while they're on the roller coaster, and then stay there until they come to find us!" she suggested.

Just the mention of a milkshake was enough to make Branch's stomach ache, but he knew that Poppy wouldn't give up. Still: "Poppy, they're out of milkshakes."

"Right! But that was hours ago, Branch. They have a whole amusement park full of happy people to feed! Obviously they've restocked since then."

Unfortunately, he couldn't really argue with that logic. But, trying again, he said, "Well, I can buy milkshakes for Biggie and anyone else who wants to stay behind. You looked like you wanted to go on the ride."

She narrowed her eyes at him for a split-second, clearly catching on—this wasn't chivalry, this was practically war—then waved her hand dismissively as she lifted her chin. "Nonsense!" she declared. "I'll buy milkshakes for _everyone_ to drink on the bus. I _have_ to stay behind for the greater good of our friendship."

Branch couldn't help but smirk, thoroughly enjoying their banter. "Oh, Poppy. Shouldn't you know that _real_ friendship is built on more than milkshakes?" He tilted his head at her, shooting an expression of mock-pity in her direction.

"Right, right, you're _so_ right," she retaliated, pretending to be humble before grinning devilishly. "It's built on acts of kindness. You know, like . . . buying your friends treats. Or, more specifically . . ." She looked up at him and innocently tapped his nose. "_Milkshakes_." Her voice was light and airy and innocent. She clearly had experience with passive aggression, which was most likely due, in part, to Branch.

He leaned back. "Well then, I guess that because we're not exactly 'friends,' I'll just have to reject your act of kindness. I'll go ahead and get on the bus. You'll never find me if I want to hide from you, and you won't be able to give me a milkshake. See you at school on Monday." To add to the performance, he began to walk away—although if that was what he had to do, he was prepared to ride home alone. He was undoubtedly an introvert and today's events had drained him.

Still, he couldn't suppress a grin when Poppy called out, not even three steps later, "No, wait!"

Every last one of their friends (Branch had forgotten they were there and wondered if Poppy had too) gave a collective groan as Poppy forfeited their little competition and Branch turned around. Poppy had a slightly worried look on her face, evidently from Branch's stunt, as Cooper melted to his knees and cried, "NOOOOO! MY ENTERTAINMENT!"

A second later, Guy was shaking Poppy by the shoulders. "No, Poppy, this is war! You can't give up this easily! All of your pride is on the line!"

"I'm sorry, Guy, but I have to buy him a milkshake. It's a life-or-death matter!" she said, easily slipping into the same dramatic mood her friend was in.

"And if you die we can't have milkshakes!" The look of pure terror on Guy's face in that moment was hilarious. Then he hung his head low, patted Poppy on the shoulder, and said, "Okay. You may have lost this time, but we'll just have to accept that you'll win next time." He nodded solemnly and rejoined the group of most of his friends.

Poppy had a happy, amused smile on her face, which made Branch smile too. He watched as she helped split her friends into two groups yet again, and make sure to establish a meeting point. Then, as the majority of her friends got in line for the roller coaster, she grabbed his hand and led him, Harper, and Biggie into the diner.

In contrast to the crowd of hungry people that had been there before, it was now empty except for a middle-aged man, a ten-year-old girl who was probably his daughter, and the staff. Poppy went straight up to the counter and said, "Excuse me! Hi! Can we order 11 milkshakes?"

The woman at the counter wasn't half as cheerful as Poppy was, but nodded. "What flavors?"

She thought for a moment, ticking things off on her fingers. She looked over her shoulder at Branch and asked, "You want chocolate, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, four strawberry, two vanilla, and five chocolate."

"That'll be ready in a second," said the lady at the counter, and went back to the kitchen.

And yes, that was surprisingly accurate. Less than 30 seconds, even, later, they had their milkshakes.

Poppy struggled to pick them all up. "Um, hold on, you guys, it'll just be a second," she said as Harper and Biggie went to sit down.

"I can help, Poppy," Branch offered, surprised he was the first to do so.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm the one who bought them and everything, so I should be the one to carry them. I've got it," she insisted, even though she was nowhere near figuring out a solution.

"No, you don't." Even though his girlfriend tried to stop him, he grabbed three milkshakes and took them to the table, then came back for more.

Poppy straightened, watching him take multiple trips. "Oh."

"C'mon, help out," he teased her as he took more milkshakes to the table Harper and Biggie had selected. "I thought you'd 'got it.'"

She smiled at him as he nudged her shoulder with his arm and grabbed as many as she could carry, following him over to the table. They sat down with Harper and Biggie, all of them taking small sips of their milkshakes (except Branch, who was going to procrastinate drinking his for as long as possible).

Almost as soon as the first sips were taken, though, they heard screaming from the roller coaster their friends were on and looked out the window just in time to see them lurch around the corner. Poppy grinned, stood up, ran outside, and screamed, "WOO-HOO!"—immediately, as though she hadn't even been thinking about what she was doing.

Branch couldn't help but smile as he watched her.

Soon she came back in, as casually as if it had never happened (which pretty much summed up her personality, honestly). "I think the ride is almost over, you guys," she said, sipping her strawberry milkshake. "We should go wait for them outside."

Branch, recognizing that it was slightly warmer inside, said, "I'll wait here so nobody takes the milkshakes."

Poppy put a hand on her hip, raised an eyebrow at him, and said, "Branch, can you seriously look me in the eye right now and tell me that you think someone in this ghost town of a restaurant is going to steal seven milkshakes?"

He crossed his arms, standing so she wouldn't be able to lean over him condescendingly. "You never know. People aren't always as innocent as you think."

"So, what, the ladies who _work _here are going to steal the food we literally _paid_ them for?"

Before Branch could think of a comeback, Harper leaned her head back through the door. "Poppy, come on, they're leaving the ride."

Barely breaking eye contact with her boyfriend, Poppy balled her hands into fists and called over her shoulder, "Coming!" Then she said, "Fine, you can stay here, but—ugh, whatever." She turned to go out the door, leaving Branch with crossed arms, a satisfied smirk on his face, and eight more milkshakes than he would ever need.

It didn't take long for everyone to come back in, all happy from the thrill of the roller coaster and Poppy's act of kindness in buying them milkshakes, and grab their milkshakes. Poppy grabbed Branch's hand when she came back in, any feisty vibes from their previous little banter gone, and said, "Come on guys, let's walk back to the bus!"

The large group started walking back to the park entrance, where many of their classmates were already gathered, meandering around the area as they waited for a teacher to validate their being there and let them out.

A classmate named Bella Brightly, who had (soaking wet) purple-dyed hair and wore a large pink starfish clip in it, pointed toward the exit. "Guys, I think we're supposed to be out there already," she called to the large group of SWHS students.

"Oh! Thanks, Bella!" Poppy said, grinning as they all collectively swarmed toward the exit. They'd made it about halfway to the parking lot when they realized the buses were still locked and they were the first ones out there.

"Wait, so should we go back?" Cooper was the first to ask the question that was on everyone's minds.

A girl that Branch didn't recognize jogged up to them, panting. It looked like she had just run all the way from the park entrance. "They won't let us back in," she said breathily. "We've already left."

"Should we just wait around the entrance?" Satin asked.

"Yeah, so the teachers know where we are?" Chenille clarified.

A girl with a wide, clownish grin, bright orange hair, and big triangle-shaped earrings said in a creepily bright voice, "Fun fact: if the teachers know where we all are, we won't get left behind!" Branch glanced around, startled by her, but no one else seemed fazed. Did she act like this routinely?

"Good point, Tug," Poppy said. "We should probably hang out there until we actually need to be on the bus."

So they walked back. Even though he didn't really want to, Branch found himself sipping the milkshake in his hand simply because it was in his hand. He wished he could give it to someone else so he wouldn't make his stomach feel any worse than it already did, but Poppy would surely notice.

It didn't seem like a bad idea to hang out at the park entrance until about 10 minutes later, when a group of students came sprinting back from the parking lot (how had they gotten out there without anyone noticing), yelling about how the buses would leave in a matter of minutes.

"Wait, WHAT?" said Smidge. "We're gonna get LEFT HERE?"

"If you don't come with us _now_, you are," said one of the boys who had run back to warn them. Branch suddenly wished he knew as many people as Poppy did, just so he could know their names—but then again, he didn't have the time or energy for that many friends. It was a weird feeling, because he had never wanted to be that social before.

He was snapped out of his daze by the realization that everyone else was getting a move on toward the buses and he was still standing still. He had to rush to catch up with them, but jogging didn't feel good on his unsettled belly. He really needed to stop sipping at that milkshake . . .

Finally, everyone was safely on the bus. He and Poppy sat next to each other on the right side of the bus, him taking the "window seat" and her closest to the aisle. Before she even sat down, she quickly swapped out her soaking wet shirt and pants with the sweatshirt and sweatpants Branch had made her pack.

"So would you say that even though you did all that grumbling about having to pack extra stuff yesterday . . ?" he teased her, trailing off. When they'd done their packing together the afternoon before, he'd been the one to make sure she packed a couple extra pieces of clothing "just in case," as they'd been instructed. She had complained about it almost the whole time.

She shot him a sheepish smile, but waved her hand in the air dismissively. "That's different," she said immediately, as though it was an automatic response.

"What?"

"Nothing. It's just that I probably would've packed it without you, anyway." She said the words casually as she redid her ponytail, but from the twinkle in her eye and the slight upturning in the corners of her lips, she knew that she was about to be called out on her lie.

Branch's eyebrows raised. "Yeah? And would you have gotten so frustrated at yourself when you packed it on your own?"

She shook her head innocently. "I guess we'll never know, since it didn't happen that way."

"_Oh _my _God_—" Without really thinking about what he was doing, Branch lunged for her and ended up tackling her into the bus aisle, both of them bumping into things on the way down.

Unfortunately, there was still a steady flow of students boarding the bus and blocking the aisle did not go unnoticed. The boy who would've trampled them first luckily stopped just in time, but because of how quickly he had to do it, the girl behind him tripped on his ankles and two or three more people ended up falling down on top of Poppy and Branch.

Branch, who was basically at the bottom of the pile of strangers (save for Poppy, who was getting the most crushed), could hear a couple of voices from outside the pile call, "Hey, what's going on?" and "Oh no!" Some people rushed to help them, which was good, because it was slowly getting harder to breathe.

The first thing that Poppy said once they were out was, "That was your fault." Then she proceeded to grin and give out hugs to everyone who'd helped out and whom they'd inconvenienced with their falling.

"Well, I'm not denying it," he murmured under his breath as he got back in his seat and the bus driver honked at everyone else to do the same. He knew that Poppy—who was now hugging people all the way at the back of the bus—wouldn't hear him anyway.

She eventually got back to her seat and all the students on the bus settled down. When he saw her giving him the side-eye, he took his milkshake out of the cupholder and kept sipping at it.

She grinned, taking long sips from hers. "You getting used to all the sugar?"

Thinking about his slight nausea only made it worse, but he tried to ignore it and smiled anyway. "I don't think it works that quickly."

"Yeah, but you can always hope," she said, holding up crossed fingers as the bus began to move.

"That _is_ your specialty." Their conversation lapsed into silence, and Branch turned to look out the window for the rest of the trip, succumbing to his own quiet thoughts. At some point in the trip (his milkshake was gone from absent-minded sipping, though, so maybe there was something to say about time passing in that itself), he felt Poppy's head on his shoulder. She'd fallen asleep, which was the most adorable thing he'd seen all day.

He reached an arm around her, careful not to wake her, and gently rubbed her arm, almost as a source of comfort for himself. Honestly, he wanted to just lay his head atop hers and fall asleep as well, but he felt a sense of responsibility (to do what, he didn't know) that prevented him from giving into sleep like that. Plus, he didn't trust himself to wake up when they arrived back at the elementary school.

So he ended up lost in thought again as they finished up the trip home. More than once, his aching stomach sharply jolted him back to reality.

It was nearly 10:00 at night. Hopefully, they'd get back home soon, where he could sleep off the sugar-induced bad feelings.

If not . . . well, he didn't know what would happen.

* * *

Poppy woke up to an adult—it took her a moment to realize it was a chaperone for the field trip she'd forgotten she was on—poking her in the shoulder. She instantly sat straight up, speaking aloud as she often did when startled out of sleep like that: "What?!"

It almost seemed to scare the chaperone, who moved backward a little after her outburst. Poppy smiled politely at her and corrected herself: "Um, sorry, I mean, what was that?"

"We're here," said the chaperone, and continued down the aisle.

"Thanks for telling me!" Poppy called after her. Blushing a little from the exchange, the pink-haired teenager sighed and stood up to get her things. That was when she realized Branch was watching her.

Blushing slightly harder, she glared at him teasingly. "How long have I been asleep?"

He barely smiled, but answered her. "I dunno, the second half of the trip. But, you know, there's still lots of people getting off the bus. You didn't hold anyone up."

"Well, good." Again, she smiled at him, and again, he didn't return it. Hmm. He looked pretty drowsy. Maybe he was just too tired to process everything that was going on.

She finished getting her things and started to leave the bus, only to realize Branch was still sitting in his seat. "Wait, Branch, aren't you coming?"

"I—what? Oh, yeah, sure," he said, and even then, took another moment (and a deep breath that Poppy was surprised she'd been focused enough to notice) before getting up.

"Are you okay?" she asked, genuinely concerned about his behavior.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, taking all his things and turning toward the front of the bus. "Let's get off."

She nodded—"Okay"—and made her way off the bus. Outside, her friends were hanging out by the trash cans. Instinct kicked in and she instantly went over to join them, momentarily forgetting about Branch.

That turned out to be a mistake.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Branch was sitting in the backseat of Poppy's father's car, on the way to their house for the night. Poppy was chewing her lip, feeling incredibly guilty, in the passenger seat.

Basically, what had happened was that Branch, nauseated from all the sugar he'd eaten that day, had planned to go home and sleep it off. But since he couldn't find the car he drove, the one that he needed to get back to the orphanage where he lived as soon as possible, the combination of stress and nausea had taken over and he'd ended up throwing up.

Poppy had insisted that it was her fault, that she'd forced him to eat all the sugar he had that day, and that he had to come home with them so she could make sure he was okay. He'd protested that no, he was fine, that of course it wasn't her fault (how could she have known?) and that he needed to drive the car back to the orphanage because it wasn't his. Poppy had then argued that her dad would take care of the car problem and that she at least needed a chance to get over her guilt, and had ultimately won.

Sitting in the front seat of the car, she bit her lip hard and made a promise to herself that she would get him feeling better—no, perfect—by that same time tomorrow.

* * *

**That's all for now, but I hope I can have the next, hopefully more interesting chapter up soon (despite all the schoolwork I'll be doing). Let me know what you thought of this one in the reviews! :)**


	5. Double Date

**I'm so sorry this took so long! I'm going to start on the next chapter right away. I'm basically out of words right now so I'll just let you read the chapter.**

**(but a huge thanks to everyone who reviewed!) **

"No, I'm fine now. I'll be fine," Branch insisted for the millionth time as Poppy and her father ushered him into their home.

"You just threw up, Branch," Poppy reminded him.

"I _know_ that, but I'm okay now," he tried to convince her. Honestly, he really only needed to brush his teeth, drink some water, and go to sleep. If only he hadn't thrown up, they wouldn't be taking this so seriously.

The second he had that thought, he felt guilty. He was lucky that at least Poppy and her father cared this much about him. It was just bad timing, that was all.

Poppy opened her mouth to counter his argument, but Peppy beat her to it. "Even if you are okay, Branch, we have to be sure so that we don't accidentally send you home sick. Just get one night of rest with us, and then we'll talk about how you're feeling, okay?"

Branch hesitated, but he had to admit that the mayor had a point. It was probably better to go back to that orphanage full of children 100% sure he wasn't spreading any sort of sickness than to get there as fast as possible. "Okay, but I'm going to need you to drive the car back to the orphanage. They really want it back quickly." He hoped he didn't sound too demanding or ungrateful.

"Right! Thank you for reminding me, my boy!" Peppy said, and instantly started back out the door. "I'll be back soon! Stay safe!" He shut the door.

"We will! Bye Dad!" Poppy called after him, but he was already gone. She turned back to her boyfriend. "Come on, sit down." She pulled him over to the couch. "Let me get you something."

"I really just need to brush my teeth, drink some water, and go to sleep."

"Okay!" For someone who'd been up since 5:00 AM (aside from her little catnap on the bus, but she should be tired from that, too), she was incredibly energetic. "Just give me a minute, and I'll have finished it!" She ran down the hall, her wet socks leaving watery footprints on the hardwood floor.

He heard the water running, a squeaky door opening, and then a loud crash. "I'm okay!" Poppy called before he could say anything. The squeaky door closed a minute later.

He saw her running down the hallway again, this time into the kitchen. "I'll just get you a glass of water and then I can set up an air mattress for you or something!"

"Oh, I really don't need an air mattress," he said as she left the kitchen, trying to bring him the glass of water as fast as possible without spilling it anywhere (it was filled to the brim).

"Yes, Branch, you do. I'm not letting you sleep on the floor or the couch. Unless the couch would be better than an air mattress. I don't know your preferences. I'd let you sleep with me because that would probably be the most comfortable, except I still think you're sick."

He shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Or—or!—you could have my bed and I'd sleep on the couch or the air mattress."

"No, I'll sleep on the couch."

She shot him a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. You can sleep where you normally sleep and I won't bother you. It's the best arrangement."

"But are you really sure? And you wouldn't bother me."

He shot her a look. "Yes, I'm really sure, Poppy."

"Okay, okay!" She grinned and put her hands up as though surrendering. "I'll get you some blankets and stuff. Also, the bathroom is down the hall"—she pointed in the direction she'd come from—"on the right, and I left out a new toothbrush for you."

"Thanks, Poppy." Branch got up to go brush his teeth as Poppy began to set up the other couch so he could sleep on it.

"No problem!" she chirped cheerfully as he walked away.

When he was finished, he came back and Poppy was sitting next to where he'd been sitting before, scrolling through shows they could watch on TV. The other couch was all done up with blankets and pillows like a bed. As Branch walked into the room, she looked at him and said, "Oh, there you are! The couch isn't one of those fancy fold-out ones, but I did my best."

"No, it's great. I really don't need anything fancy," he told her. "Um, why is there a paper towel on the pillow?"

"Uh . . . just cause your hair is still wet, that's all."

"Oh." She didn't sound sincere, so that probably wasn't the real reason—but still, it made sense, so he left the paper towel there.

"Here, lie down," she told him, pointing to the couch she'd set up as she got up to move a small table beside him, where she put his glass of water. "I can get you a second glass of water, if you want—"

"No, Poppy, you've done enough," he assured her as he rested his head on the paper-towel-covered pillow. "I'm fine now, I promise."

"Well . . . okay." She flopped back down on the other couch, resuming her search for a show to watch. "You want to watch a sitcom, or some soap opera type thing, or a murder mystery, or what do you want to watch?"

"It doesn't matter," he told her. "Unlike you seem to be, I'm actually really tired. I'll probably fall asleep before the first episode is even over."

She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "Well, if you're gonna be that unhelpful—" she teased.

Her father opened the door behind her, cutting her off. "Oh, hi, Dad!" she said, turning her head to look up at him. "Help me decide what show to watch!"

"Poppy, dear, it's a little late to turn on a TV show," Peppy told her gently.

"Aw, come on, Dad! It's only, like—" she pulled her phone out of her pocket, obviously very confident that it was early enough "—um . . . 11 PM." The wind went out of her sails at the end, and she turned to give her father a sheepish grin. "Okay, fine, I'll go to bed."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Peppy said as Poppy got up to give him a hug. He kissed his daughter's forehead, then went down the hallway to bed. "Go to sleep soon, okay, honey?"

"Okay, Dad," she said, then walked over to Branch, giving him a skeptical look. "Are you _sure_ you don't need anything else? Not another glass of water? Not a sleep mask? Not . . . more pillows, or something?"

"I—"

"Are you _sure_?" she asked again, not even giving him time to answer.

He laughed a little. "Okay, you can get me another glass of water."

"I'm glad you think so," she replied promptly, and went off to get him more water. It wasn't exactly the reply he'd been expecting, but it was amusing.

When she came back, she set the glass of water down and kissed his forehead. "I told you everything you need to know, right? I can go to sleep now and you won't mind?"

Branch nodded, smiling up at her for her generosity. "Yeah, of course you can. I know how to fend for myself anyway, and you've been up since 5, pretty much. You deserve to sleep without having to worry about me."

She smiled back. "Okay. Thanks, Branch. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he called after her as she walked down the hallway to her room.

He was so lucky to have her as a girlfriend.

* * *

Poppy set her alarm for 2:30 AM.

It wasn't exactly to _prank_ Branch, per se, more to get even with him. If he had actually thought he was going to get away with _temporarily _dying his hair (and without her noticing, especially in the rain!) he was terribly mistaken. It had seemed like he himself hadn't even noticed the traces of blue dye in the raindrops that rolled down his face, or the pitch-black locks of hair that had occasionally flopped into his eyes, which was weird.

It didn't matter now, anyway, because she would make sure that he had blue hair again by the time he woke up.

When her alarm went off in the middle of the night, she jumped up out of bed automatically, thinking there was maybe some sort of emergency—but it took about two (long) seconds for her to realize that no, she'd decided to do this herself.

Quickly, she turned off the alarm, praying she hadn't woken up either her father or Branch (especially Branch). Stumbling over everything on her floor, she rubbed her eyes, trying to break her sleepy haze. She would have to be fully awake if she wanted to do a good job on his hair (and therefore avoid too big of a fight when he woke up).

Before leaving her room, she grabbed a flashlight off a small table she kept by her door and turned it on in order to walk down the hallway. It was bright, but not nearly as challenging as trying to get what she needed from the closet without the door squeaking loudly enough to wake up the whole neighborhood. (Not to mention all the boxes that threatened to crash down on both her and the floor as soon as she got that door open.)

Finally, she snuck out to the living room where her boyfriend was asleep on the couch. She realized that she'd never turned out the light when she'd gone to bed a couple hours ago—the room was still very bright and she had to squint at first—but Branch had still been able to fall asleep, obviously, given how deeply he seemed to be sleeping now.

She snuck over to sit on the edge of the table that was behind Branch's head and carefully moved over the lamp so that the most light possible was illuminating her soon-to-be work of art. She hadn't forced him to sleep with his head on a paper towel for nothing, she thought, her 2-in-the-morning self unable to stop the grin from spreading across her face at what a genius she was.

Speaking of which, she noticed the paper towel was a little wet from his drying hair, but that would be fine, right? What was most important was doing his hair quickly and making sure it looked nice.

So she grabbed the jar of ready-made hair dye and got to work.

Fortunately, she had a little bit of experience in hair-dying. Unfortunately, she was so in the zone as she did it that she didn't realize she had been mistaken in allowing a single layer of wet paper towel to separate blue dye and the throw pillow on her couch. It wasn't mixed very well and the ink was spreading all through the paper towel, staining the back of Branch's neck and the back collar of his sweatshirt, as well as a good portion of the pillow his head was resting on.

"Oh, sh—" Poppy muttered under her breath, realizing she actually had to stop herself from finishing the vulgar word. Her very first reaction was a wide smile, as she'd finally gotten into the habit she'd been trying to get into. Ever since middle school, Creek had been convincing her that she needed to restrain herself from doing anything that wasn't sweet and innocent, because it "wasn't ladylike." Well, she didn't care what he thought, since he clearly didn't care about her.

Then her smile dissipated. That said, she liked the way she was now. She didn't want to start wearing all black and cursing at everything she saw, and she especially didn't want to hole herself up like Branch had been doing for so long.

She looked back down at her boyfriend, at his peaceful sleeping face (although from her perspective, he was upside-down), resisting the urge to run her fingers through his soft, thick, _beautiful_ hair. She wished she could, but she'd only just dyed it, and was afraid of messing anything up. Even so, she stared at the top of his head for a couple more seconds, trying to decide if it was worth ruining her hard work to run her hands through that fluffy hair.

He'd been secluded for a good portion of his life, and that certainly didn't make her love him any less. But she was different; she needed people to help keep her going. She didn't know how he'd done it, but honestly . . . he should be rewarded. He should be a hero. No one else at their school, or even in their town, she was sure, would be able to do what he'd done . . .

Or maybe those were just her crazy 2-in-the-morning thoughts rambling, generating crazy ideas, and she would wake up hours later, well rested, and realize how silly that was.

Back to the matter at hand. Poppy should probably figure out some way to clean up all that dye, quietly and quickly, she realized. She managed to sneak an entire roll of paper towels from the kitchen without disturbing anyone, and gently lifted Branch's head to replace the one soggy blue one with layers and layers of dry ones. He stirred a little, which definitely startled her, but luckily stayed asleep.

She bunched up the limp paper towel in her hand, trying not to squeeze any of the water out onto the floor or either of the small wooden tables surrounding her boyfriend. Again, she was able to sneak in and out of the kitchen to throw it away without causing any huge problems.

It was when she got back—and really tired—that a huge problem almost (_almost_) happened. She sat back down on the hard wooden table she'd been sitting at, feeling a yawn coming. Naturally, she stretched her arms wide to go along with it and, in doing so, nearly knocked over the lamp, the roll of paper towels, and the bottle of blue dye. She audibly yelped, just barely stopping herself from making that loud clattering sound.

Her yelp, which she hadn't even realized she'd made, startled Branch into doing a little jump in his sleep. It nearly stopped her heart, and she sat still for a full two minutes before she leaned over to make sure he was still sleeping, terrified that he was awake and was waiting to pop up at her in the middle of the night (it was the kind of thing she'd do to him, after all).

But no, he was still sleeping. She didn't blame him; it had been a long day. She just needed to clean up the mess she'd made, and then she was going straight back to sleep.

Carefully, she pushed the lamp back over to where it used to be—it was still pretty easy to see even without it, after all—and tried to figure out how she could remove the blue stain from the throw pillow in five minutes or less.

Well, she could . . . or, no, that wouldn't work—so how about . . no . . .

She didn't remember falling asleep.

* * *

When Branch woke up, there was a strange pressure on one side of his head, the side that wasn't being smushed into his pillow. It covered the top half of his ear and his neck ached from being held in the same position so long.

It only took about half a second to realize there were also long locks of hair draping over parts of his face and neck (and even shoulders). Another half-second later, it was obvious that this hair was Poppy's, and a little later, it came to him that her head was resting on top of his.

He wanted to know why and how she'd gotten there, of course, but his neck was actually really hurting at this point, and he just needed to _move_ before he thought too hard about anything. So he carefully lifted his arms, felt his way around Poppy's head, and gently moved it to the side so that he would be able to get up.

It was definitely bright in there—not only was early-morning sunlight streaming through the windows, but there was still a light on behind Poppy. Given the strange position she was in, it was a miracle she hadn't kicked it over in her sleep.

Speaking of which, he should probably move her to the couch where he'd been sleeping so that she didn't hurt herself the way he'd hurt his neck (it wasn't so bad, luckily). He was careful to lift her in a way that wouldn't wake her up, even if it was a little bit of a struggle for him. He thought he'd been doing a good job until she startled awake as soon as he set her down.

"I'M AWAKE!" she cried, sitting straight up and nearly bashing her head into Branch's (he moved out of the way just in time).

"Sorry," he said immediately, as though replying directly to her outburst.

"What?" she asked, turning her head to look at him. "I—wait, what time is it?"

"Um—" Branch pulled his phone out of his pocket, realizing he'd somehow fallen asleep in last night's wet clothes. "6:30." He shot her a sheepish smile. "Sorry it's so early."

"Oh no, I fell asleep!" She leaped off the couch, grabbed his arm, and forcefully pulled him down the hall to the bathroom. "You have to get in the shower! Now!"

"What? Why?" he asked, too many things going on at once for him to even theorize about what she could've meant. But her obvious alarm was starting to make him anxious, too, and his voice rose as he asked.

"You need to wash your hair! _Immediately_!" She shoved him into the bathroom. "Wait! Don't close the door yet! I need to find you some clean clothes!" She skidded down the hallway again.

"Or I could just go back to the orphanage and shower!" he called after her, but she ignored him.

He had to wait in the doorframe for about 6 or 7 minutes before she scrambled back, holding a bundle of clothes, some of which were an oversized sweatshirt and jeans that looked like they would fit him. She looked just as flustered as she had before. "Okay, so, old sweatshirt of mine, and some other stuff that I think would fit you, no idea why we own it, and I was in a hurry so I just grabbed some random extra stuff. Take it, wash your hair with _cold water_. Okay?"

"Okay . . ?" He was mentally repeating everything she'd just said back to himself, hoping he'd remember it. And, in the tiny spaces of his brain that weren't already occupied with thought, wondering a little about why she cared so much that he used cold water.

She grinned at him. "Good!" She slammed the door in his face.

Well, that was weird.

He set down the balled-up clothes and accidentally caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the mirror. He couldn't help but notice the incredibly bright blue dye in his hair.

He'd been living with his own temporary dye for a week, so he should've been used to it, but for some reason this felt a little . . . off. He couldn't put his finger on it, but it did.

And then, suddenly, he remembered that all the dye had come off in the rain, and he'd forgotten all about it.

Poppy had done this.

While he was sleeping.

Seriously?

Well, it certainly explained why they'd gone to sleep in entirely different parts of the house and woke up with her head resting on his—no, holding his in place. But seriously, Poppy? This was a little extreme . . .

Even with that knowledge, he couldn't be mad, because he'd been living with temporary blue hair for a week (a trial period) and couldn't really find anything wrong with it. It was impractical, sure, but harmless.

So it didn't matter. It was just crazy to him that even after a long day, she'd gotten herself out of bed so early just to dye his hair. He would never do anything like that.

* * *

Earbuds in, Poppy sat on the couch with her phone in her hand, spamming every last one of her friends with an ungodly amount of texts to see if any of them were awake (and because it was kind of fun).

Naturally, none of them answered.

She sighed, bored. Of course there were tons of things she could do (scrapbooking yesterday's rainy adventure, anyone?) but most of the things she liked were complex and she would probably end up dropping something in the hallway on her way back to the living room. Waking up her dad wasn't worth it.

Usually, when she found herself stuck in a situation like this, she would turn to her friends. But she'd already done that, and none of them were awake. She put her phone down, hoping the music would be enough to keep her boredom away, at least until Branch came back.

And then, suddenly, someone was calling her.

It was Suki, who wanted to FaceTime.

Poppy grinned and picked up immediately. "Hi, Suki!" she said.

Suki was in bed, wearing pajamas and bags under her eyes. "Hey, Poppy," she said in a hoarse voice, halfway between a whisper and normal speech. "Why're you up so early?"

"Sorry if I woke you up!" Poppy said, smiling sheepishly. "Branch woke me up and now I'm really bored."

"Well . . ." Suki rubbed her eyes, still looking sleepy. "Where's Branch now?"

"Showering. I dyed his hair in his sleep and fell asleep there by accident. I forgot you have to wash your hair with cold water after dying it. He's doing that now."

"Oof. He know you dyed his hair yet?"

Poppy shrugged. "If he hasn't figured it out yet, he will soon." Suki tilted the camera for just a sec, and Poppy's face turned serious. "Wait, Suki," she said. "Was that _Guy Diamond_?" It took everything she had not to show Suki how much she shipped the two of them.

"Um . . ." Every second that her friend didn't answer the question, Poppy's smile grew wider. "Yeah, he slept over here last night."

"Sukiiiiiiiii . . ." Poppy was grinning as she teased her friend.

Suki smiled too, purely because Poppy was, and laughed a little. "Dude, nothing happened. Both his parents were asleep and didn't come to pick him up, that's all."

Poppy waggled her eyebrows at her friend. "Are you _suuuuuure_?"

Suki yawned. From all the sleepovers they'd had over the years, it was common knowledge that she was about a thousand times more chill when she was tired, which seemed kind of counterintuitive, but it was true. "Yeah, I'm sure. But I know for a fact Branch came home with you last night, so if you don't want to have to explain yourself, leave me alone." She laughed.

"Okay, fine, but I'll be coming back for more information on that," Poppy told her, laughing as well. "Then what do you want to talk about? You can't hang up on me, Suki, I'm soooo bored!"

"'Kay. What are you doing later today?"

"Making sure Branch isn't still sick. You heard he threw up last night, right?"

"Um . . . yeah, I think so. Must not be that bad, though, for everything that's _apparently_ going on."

Poppy started chewing her lip, last night's feelings of guilt coming rushing back to her. "It's probably fine, I just . . . it was my fault that he felt so sick last night, Suki. He told me he didn't want any more sugar and I didn't listen, so if for some reason he turns out to still be sick, I'd still feel guilty."

"So mostly just to make you feel better, then?"

". . . I guess, yeah."

Then there was a rustling on the other end, Suki's face was gone, and the camera was shaky. "Wait, what's going on?" Poppy asked, frowning.

She could hear whispering now, a male voice and a female voice. Had Guy Diamond woken up?

Evidently he had, because when she saw Suki's face again, Guy's was smushed up next to it, trying to fit in the camera. "Sorry, what'd you say?" Suki asked.

"I just asked what was going on. Guy woke up?"

"I'm right here, aren't I?" Guy said, raising an eyebrow. He had a lot of personality, even after having just woken up.

"So, Guy . . ." Poppy couldn't hang up without taking the opportunity to tease both her friends. "I heard you stayed at Suki's house last night."

She probably shouldn't have even tried—Guy, being the person he was, played it off well, ignoring her obvious meaning. "I _know_!" he drawled dramatically. "My _own family_ forgot about me! Luckily my _friend_'s family was a _little_ more hospitable!" He huffed angrily and looked off to the side, even though there was obviously nothing there, adding a pointed, "_mother_."

Suki laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're so dramatic."

Poppy grinned at them, even though Guy had done a great job of sidestepping her teasing. They were so cute together! She wondered if anyone ever thought that about her and Branch, even if only for a second. She turned to look at him—

Oh, right. This whole FaceTime thing had been to distract herself.

Still, as though on cue, Branch came down the hall wearing the clothes she'd found for him and sat down next to her on the couch. "Who're you calling?" he asked, gently yanking one of her earbuds out.

"Suki. And Guy. They went home together last night," she said, picking up the earbud and putting it in his ear, "but they're not being receptive to my teasing."

"So?" Branch asked. "We did that too, and the most eventful thing that happened was that you got up in the middle of the night just to dye my hair. While I was sleeping. Well," and here he hesitated, trying to work it out in his head, "that actually could've been the most eventful thing, regardless."

Poppy blushed a tiny bit, but made eye contact with Suki and smiled and laughed a little. "He noticed!" she said. "Told you he would by now."

"Yeah, well, there was not only a mirror in the bathroom, but a ton of blue-ness coming out in the water. It would've been hard not to."

"I know. I've done this kind of thing before. That's why I was so freaked out that I fell asleep, because you're not s'posed to leave it in that long."

Branch opened his mouth to answer her, but Guy cut them off. "Are you going to end up arguing over something as ridiculous, something as meaningless as hair dye?! And just leave us here, staring at you? Geez, how dramatic _are_ you two?" he gasped, giving them that trademark theatrical look of personal offense.

Poppy and Suki laughed at him, while Branch gave a brief eye roll at Guy's joke. Somehow, Suki was the first to notice, and said, "Come on, Branch, that was funny."

Poppy didn't give her boyfriend a chance to respond, clutching a hand to her heart—openly making fun of them—and saying, "Aww, Suki! It's so adorable that you're defending him!" She used one hand to make half a heart shape over her heart (the other was occupied holding up the phone), made an over-exaggerated pouty face, and said, "I ship it," in a voice that didn't sound like hers at all.

Suki and Guy eyed each other a little uneasily, and Poppy felt pretty proud of herself for finally making things awkward between them, a special kind of friendship love that the group exchanged regularly. Lips stretching into a wide, silly smile, she said, "OKAY BYE HAVE FUN MAKING OUT!" immediately before hanging up.

Branch's eyes shot straight to her. "What did you just do?"

"I created lots of tension between them. Hopefully they'll be an item by the time school gets out next week." She shrugged, yanking the earbuds out of her phone's audio jack. "If not, I can always see them over the summer."

"I cannot _believe_ I was a part of a conversation like that."

She smiled, making a show of linking arms with him. "Well, you're with me now, so weird things will happen . . . _regularly_." For the last word, she brought her face closer to his, a wicked smirk across her lips, fingers brushing his jawline, adding theatrical horror to her statement.

Branch played along and jumped away from her as though it was absolutely repulsive. "Did you just say . . . _regularly_?"

Never breaking eye contact with him, Poppy offered a convincing smile. "Yes. There will be weirdness _everywhere_."

"But you couldn't really mean that? _Everywhere_?" His voice slid into a horrified whisper, yet it didn't hide the smile on his face that gave off the same silliness hers did.

She crawled across the couch to him until their noses were centimeters away, their breath warm against each other's throats. Poppy was already forgetting what she'd been about to say: "_Everywhere_" she choked out in a whisper, killing the horror-themed mood of the show they'd been putting on, but that was okay, because they'd already moved on to a new one.

And then her lips were on Branch's, and she was collapsing on top of him, and their hands were already entangled in one another's hair, and—

Poppy's phone rang. _Very_ loudly.

The pink-haired teenager jumped, jittery, and abruptly pulled out of her boyfriend's grasp, cheeks as pink as her hair as she fumbled to pick up her phone and answer it.

Her phone's non-earbud volume was obviously too high, because the next thing she knew, Smidge's deep, already-loud voice was screaming into her ear.

"Ahh! Smidge!" Poppy yelled, jumping again. She really needed to recover from the shock of being interrupted and get over all the jitters she had. That wasn't happening right now, though, unfortunately. She turned the volume way down and held the phone up to her ear again. "Why are you calling me so early in the morning? Why are you even up this early?"

"To prepare for the date, duh. Why are you up this early?"

"'Cause Branch woke me up." She turned to Branch, realizing both of them still had pink cheeks. "Why were you up so early?"

"Habit. I usually go running around that time of morning," he told her.

She stared at him like he was insane—she would never even _consider_ going _running_ at that time of day, but then again, the two of them could be very different—then told Smidge, "Because he usually wakes up to go running right about now."

"Actually, I would usually wake up an hour and a half before I did. This was sleeping in."

"Okay, nevermind," Poppy repeated to her friend. "He usually goes running two hours ago."

"Well, when are you going to get here? I need you to help me practice every interaction I'm going to have with Milton! You're wasting time lazing around on your couch!"

Poppy frowned. "How do you know I'm on the couch?"

"Just a guess! Get here soon!"

"Smidge, it's like, 7 AM. The date doesn't start till noon."

"We need lots of time to practice!" Smidge was adamant.

"Are you _sure_, though? I mean, I think these things are just better when you relax and, y'know, do it all on a whim."

"Yes, I'm sure, Poppy! Please just get over here! I'm stressing out!"

"Okay, okay! We'll be there soon. Just try and calm yourself down, okay, Smidge?"

"Okay, I'll try." Those were Smidge's last words before Poppy hung up.

"Wait, Poppy. Did you just volunteer us to 'be there soon'?" Branch asked, catching her arm before she could walk away to get ready.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I? Besides, you just said you wake up at like, 5 AM every day. You can handle this."

"That's not what I'm worried about. I'll have to drive your dad's car. What if he needs it? And he's still asleep, anyway. And aren't we gonna be out and about until, like, 3 in the afternoon? I'm not sure I can handle that much . . . social interaction, I guess." He blushed a little, looking sheepish about his social discomfort.

Her brows furrowed, as she had never felt that need to be alone and didn't understand. "But Branch," she said, confused, "You're at school for about that amount of time every day."

"Yeah, but at school I can . . . ignore people . . . more than I'll be able to here. Nobody cares that much."

Poppy stood and pulled him up with her. "Branch, if it was up to me, I'd keep you here all day because you threw up yesterday. But you seem fine, I guess, and anyway, I'd have sent them on a date by themselves if I thought Smidge would be comfortable without me. The only reason I'm bringing you is so that I don't creep Milton out and/or make it seem like a friend event. All you have to do is see the movie and eat lunch with us, okay?" She smiled at him, holding both of his hands, trying to understand how he was feeling. "You don't even have to say a word. Just please, come."

Her smile widened when she saw the upward curve of his lips, the light in his eyes. "Thanks . . . but I still don't want to drive your dad's car."

"No worries! He's got an old one he doesn't use very often. It's pretty beat up, but it works just fine and I doubt he'd care if it got into a car crash."

Branch raised his eyebrows. "He wouldn't care if we got into a car crash?"

"No, I just meant the car— "

"But we'd be in the car."

"Yeah, but like, if it was just the car—"

"It's not going to be just the car, it's going to be us in the car."

"_I know_, but—okay, okay, it doesn't matter. Will you drive us?"

He gave a long sigh, looking her in the eye the whole time as though to make sure he was conveying how tough of a decision this was. "_Fine_."

"Yay! Thanks, Branch!" She threw her arms around him, then rushed around the couch to the front door.

"Wait, aren't you going to at least leave your dad a note or something?"

"Oh, right!" She tossed him a car key on a keychain. "Here's the car key and the remote to the garage. I'll be out soon if you can't figure out how to use it."

"Okay," he told her, and walked out the door into the cool morning air, which Poppy could feel against her whole body as he closed the door.

She reminded herself she was still inside because she needed to leave her dad a note, so she'd have to wait just a little longer before she could go outside into that lovely early-summer weather.

After sneaking into his room to tape the (large) note to the inside of Peppy's door, where he was sure to see it, Poppy realized she hadn't showered, nor had she changed out of her pajamas, that day.

"Darn!" she muttered, rushing into her room and quickly grabbing some clothes, which she took to the bathroom to change into, sprinting down the hall. The worst part was knowing she'd already sent Branch outside, but there was no time even to text him or anything. She'd just have to go as fast as possible.

* * *

After a little struggling, Branch opened the garage door and started up Poppy's dad's old car, ready to drive to the mall as soon as she was.

Which he assumed would be pretty soon.

Nope.

He ended up waiting for a good 20 minutes in the running car, just sitting there, until Poppy rushed into the garage and sat down in the passenger seat, all in a blur. Out of breath, she asked, "Ready to go?" with a bright smile.

He studied her for a moment. Her hair was wet, her ponytail was falling out and messy, a clear sign she'd done it in about five seconds, her lipstick was smeared, and, of course, she was out of breath. Had she _showered_ while he'd been waiting in the car?

"Wait, Poppy, what took you so long? I thought you were just going to leave your dad a note!"

"Doesn't matter. I made sure to lock the door. I've got my phone, earbuds, lipstick, tissues, and a house key. Let's go. I'll tell you on the way there."

"Okay," he said, beginning to back out of the driveway and handing her the keychain with the remote to their garage. "Will you close the door when we leave?"

"Um, yeah," she said, and did as he asked.

"So what came up that delayed you by . . ." He checked the clock. ". . . 25 minutes?" Branch asked once they were on the road.

"I was in my PJ's," she said. "And I just can't mess up Smidge's date with Milton by wearing PJ's to the mall." Branch noticed her chewing her lip nervously. "I hope we're not too late to meet Smidge. I don't want to mess up the date."

"You mentioned that," her boyfriend pointed out dryly, and when that didn't get a response, he touched her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "Poppy, it's only 7:30. You said it yourself; the date doesn't start until noon."

"But I _also_ said that I would get there right away, and that was not right away."

"It's okay. There's a lot of stuff at the mall anyway—I'm _sure_ Smidge could find something to do with her time."

Poppy frowned a little, but then nodded and smiled at Branch. "Thanks, Branch."

He smiled back, only glancing away from the road long enough to nod at her, too, in response to her "thanks."

The rest of the twenty-minute ride consisted of Poppy scrolling through some form of social media on her phone with her earbuds in, occasionally mumbling to herself about whatever it was that she was reading while Branch drove in silence. It was simultaneously endearing and annoying. But then, a lot of things that Poppy did were like that.

When they pulled into one of the parking lots of the huge mall (it was a little ways outside their small town, but was still where everyone liked to meet because it was so big), Poppy practically leaped out of her seat and scrambled to put away her phone and earbuds. She slammed her car door and ran around the car to grab Branch's arm and pull him up out of his seat. "Branch! Come on, let's go! Smidge is waiting!" She seemed jittery, a little too eager to get there as fast as possible.

"Okay, okay, give me a sec!" he said, pulling away from her to turn the car off and lock it. "Now we're ready."

"Branch . . ." she whined, clearly upset with him for being so calm (and therefore, much slower than she was being). "We're already, like, an hour late!"

"45 minutes, actually," he said nonchalantly, suppressing a smile at her irritated look. "Hey, 15 minutes can be a long time."

"But we were _supposed_ to be here—"

"At noon. And in that case, we're _hours_ early."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Let's go!"

"You have to stop stressing out once we get there, though."

"Deal." With that, she grabbed his hand and sprinted out of the parking lot and into the mall. Branch was mildly terrified she was going to get them both killed by running in front of a car, but it all happened so fast that he wasn't able to do or say anything about it, and by the time he could they were inside.

"Oh my gosh there's Smidge!" Poppy pointed at her small blue-haired friend—who was halfway across the mall, in the food court—before Branch could catch his breath, and continued to drag him behind her, this time _somehow_ managing to dodge everyone walking by. There was a surprisingly large amount, considering how early in the morning it still was.

Speaking of people, it was kind of refreshing to see that most of the mall-goers actually _didn't_ have brightly-colored hair, like everyone did in Sunny Willows. They weren't very talkative, either, he realized, everyone minding their own business, but the most noticeable thing was the hair. They all had blond, or brown, or a natural red color—or black, like him—

Oh, wait. He ran a hand through his hair, remembering again that Poppy had dyed it blue in his sleep. That would take some getting used to.

The first thing Smidge did when they met up was grab Poppy (she'd climbed on a table just to do that) and shake her by the shoulders. "POPPY, WHERE WERE YOU?"

"I'm so, so sorry, Smidge," she apologized sincerely. "I had to take a shower and get dressed and do my makeup so that Milton doesn't think you have bad friends."

"Hmm . . ." Smidge said, somehow leaning even closer to Poppy with a suspicious look. Then the small girl released her shoulders and leaned back. "I believe you, for now. But we don't have time to waste time on that. I NEED POINTERS!"

"Alright," Poppy said, instantly getting down to business and sliding down into a seat at the table Smidge had been standing on. Her friend sat across from her, and Poppy snapped at Branch and pointed to the seat next to her, never breaking eye contact with Smidge. "Branch, sit."

"I . . . what?" he asked, confused by her sudden attitude, but sat next to her nonetheless.

He watched as she rested her elbows on the table, creating a steeple with her hands, and pointed it at Smidge. "Okay, what do you need pointers about first? Because we could start with outfit, or talking points, or body language, or ordering food, or—"

"How many ideas do you have for this?" Branch interrupted, bewildered.

She stopped talking and looked at him as though she had momentarily forgotten he was there, then smirked and pulled a sticker-covered, four-inch binder out of nowhere. (?) "Oh Branch, you _innocent_ child," she drawled. "However long you think I thought I was going to summon the courage to flirt with Creek . . . is wrong. I missed out on a lot of sleep for all this research." She patted the binder's top cover with satisfaction. "I'm glad it's going to good use."

"Carry on, then," Branch told her. She went back to drilling Smidge, but Branch was no longer paying attention, instead just staring at the practically overflowing binder. He'd been pretty sure Poppy developed a crush on Creek around 7th grade—four, almost five school years ago—but was it even possible that there was actually enough time in that short, short amount of time to compile all of _that_?

He had to remind himself it wasn't really any of his business, and focus on what was going on right now. After all, he may or may not have been writing poems about her for a while now. They were absolutely different people, but he would hate it if she analyzed them like that.

"Wait, Poppy, don't you like my outfit?" Smidge interrupted, frowning at her friend across the table. "Don't you think Milton will like it?"

"Yes, Smidge!" Poppy reassured Smidge in the least fake and most charismatic way Branch had ever witnessed. "I absolutely love your outfit! However . . . it's the kind of thing you normally wear, and on page 331 of my _extensive_ research"—her boyfriend couldn't miss the twinkle in her eye as she spoke the word, nor her perfect posture, nor that slightly sly look on her face, all obvious signals that she was enjoying being organized for once—"it says that you should always noticeably dress up for a date. That way, Milton will know that you _care_ about this date. Make sense?"

Even though she was obviously talking to Smidge, Branch shook his head. "You said you were bringing me along so it wouldn't _seem_ like a friend event. Meaning, there's a possibility he could perceive it as a friend event. Meaning, he doesn't know this is a real date and thinks we're all just hanging out, so if Smidge dresses up too fancy or acts too flirty, then it might seem like she's trying too hard."

"Oh," Poppy said, looking at him. "Hmm. Well, we'll give her a sort of neutral-y outfit, then. Does that sound good?"

"You just really want to play dress-up with Smidge, don't you," he deadpanned.

She broke into an adorable, sheepish grin and nodded.

"Just go ahead, then. I'll follow you."

"Thanks, Branch!" Poppy kissed him on the cheek and then stood up, grabbing her clearly heavy binder and stuffing it into the messenger bag he hadn't realized she had with her. "Come on, Smidge, there are some good clothing stores not too far from here. Don't worry, I'll pay."

"Let's go!" Smidge said, and the two girls started to leave the food court. Branch made sure to follow along behind them.

Hopefully, this day wouldn't drag on too long.

* * *

"So what were we gonna do next? We should still have time to get to that perfume store, right—"

Poppy was cut off by her boyfriend's voice, coming from behind her. "No, you don't. It's 11:55. You're supposed to meet Milton at the movie theater in _five minutes_. You do not have time for anything else."

She spun around. "Wait, seriously?" she asked. He seemed serious . . . but then why hadn't he warned her before? "It's that late? Wait, no . . . you're teasing me . . ." She studied his face, trying to determine if he was joking with her, panicking when she didn't get any hints of playfulness.

"No, I'm not. See, look, it's 11:56, now." He showed her his watch.

Poppy felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, similar to the one she'd felt when she'd been afraid she was going to be late to meet Smidge. Making Smidge late to meet Milton was a thousand times worse—and they hadn't even had time to go over talking points yet!

"Well then why didn't you warn us about the time earlier? A lot of good four minutes is going to do in getting us across the whole mall!"

"I—"

"You've just been standing there muttering sarcastic responses to everything I've said for hours! That is not helpful!"

"Well, excuse me for not being happy all of the time! _Usually_ going running in the morning helps out my stress levels, but because of all these intricate plans you've been making without even asking me, I've broken my routine, so thanks for that!"

"Ugh!" she cried, frustratedly curling her hands into fists. "I hate fighting! Can't we both just like . . . shut up until we can talk it out?!"

She saw Branch staring at her, unsure of how to respond. Her cheeks burned as pink as her hair and she looked away, embarrassed.

"Could you two have this weird fight _while_ we try to make it to Milton in time? Smidge urged them. "You've just wasted another one or two minutes!"

"Aah!" Poppy exclaimed, turning back to her friend (though it was mostly a distraction from her embarrassment). "I'm sorry, Smidge! Come on, we have to go!" Avoiding eye contact with Branch, she turned and started sprinting back the way they came.

They ended up being 3 minutes late . . . but that was right when Milton was showing up, so it was okay.

The orange-haired teenager walked up to them. "It's great to see you guys," he told them. He was soft-spoken, but sincere. "I hope you don't mind that I'm a couple minutes late."

"Oh, of course not, Milton! We invited you a little early anyway, to get snacks," Poppy reassured him.

"Yeah, and you're only a couple minutes late anyway. You don't really need to apologize," Branch added.

The group went quiet, awkward silence falling over them. Poppy and Branch kept glancing at Smidge, waiting for her to say something to her crush, but she was just staring at him, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn't find the words.

Finally, she managed to get out, "Hi, Milton!" It was over-enthusiastic and way too late, but Milton didn't seem to mind.

Instead, he turned to her. "Hi, Smidge. It's nice to see you."

"It's, um, uh, nice to see you too." She kept staring at him.

Poppy bit her lip, barely able to watch. She really hoped Smidge wasn't going back to that phase where she would space out daydreaming about Milton for long periods of time (she once spent a whole lunch period thinking about him), because that would really mess up this date.

Quickly, she took action. "We should probably go get snacks for the movie before we miss any of it. Let's go!" She grinned at them all, then grabbed Branch's wrist and dragged him towards the movie theater—way ahead of Smidge and Milton so that they would end up talking to each other. Neither Poppy nor Branch, however, said a word to one another—they weren't sure exactly where they stood after the kind-of fight they'd had only minutes earlier.

After getting snacks and finding their seats in the dark movie theater, Poppy decided she couldn't take it anymore; she needed to follow through and talk with Branch about what had happened. Even though it had just been a minor argument, it was affecting their relationship, and they needed to fix that.

Right as the movie started, she stood up, left the aisle, and motioned for Branch to follow her. He did and she led him outside the theater to one of the benches right outside. People were walking by, of course, but it was one of those settings where you could probably plan a murder and barely anyone would notice.

"Sit," she told him, patting the empty spot next to her on the bench and smiling up at him innocently.

He cracked a small smile and sat next to her. "What is it?"

"I hate fighting," she said with a sigh, breaking eye contact with him. "I dunno, I'm not sure if it was like, fighting or something else, but I just want to . . ." She looked back up at him and pressed her lips together, shaking her hands frustratedly as though there was something she wanted to say but couldn't find the words. "I want there to not be tension."

Silence.

"_Talk_, Branch. You're scaring me," she told him, playfully shoving him a little.

He smiled. "Okay. I don't like the tension either. I'm sorry I got upset with you. If I didn't want to follow you around all day, I shouldn't have come."

She gave him a big hug and then said into his shoulder, "I can't really remember what happened but I'm sure I need to apologize too."

Branch laughed, hugging her back. When they separated, he kissed her. "In that case, you're forgiven," he teased. "Now come on. Let's get back to our seats."

"Okay." She grinned at him and they walked back in holding hands.

* * *

Before long, the movie was over, and the group started heading toward the food court for lunch. Poppy and Branch, the more outspoken couple (due entirely to Poppy), were in front and Milton and Smidge walked side-by-side behind them.

"Okay, so I liked the part when they were like . . ." Poppy rambled (loudly) straight into Branch's ear. She obviously had a ton of energy, but then again, it was rare for her _not_ to be like this.

"Why are you so loud," he groaned, staring at her.

"I was born like this, Branch! I was born to be loud and energetic and CRAZY!" She put her arms above her head and spun around, catching herself just before she fell.

"Okay drama queen, come on," he told her, rolling his eyes at her and grabbing her arm so as not to leave her behind—but not even trying to suppress the smile on his face.

When they got to the food court, they found a table for four and sat down. "Hey, Smidge, Milton, why don't we take your orders?" Poppy offered, a bright smile on her face. "That way, you two can just relax while we do all the work."

Milton, polite as always, was already standing up to decline her offer. "That's okay, Poppy, I really wouldn't mind—"

"_No_ Milton, we're getting your food," Branch watched his girlfriend say, amused by the surprised look that immediately followed the words. She obviously hadn't been expecting them to come out that aggressively. "Um, sorry," she murmured. "Branch, come on."

"Alright," he said, standing up and following her with a good-natured shrug. "So, what are you planning to order for them?" he teased once they were out of earshot. She was surprisingly determined as she walked away from the table without even having taken orders.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks, turning around, and Branch almost bumped into her. "Darn it, you're right, Branch," she said, her face crinkling into a frustrated expression. "But I couldn't just infringe on their bonding time like that." She gestured toward the table, where Smidge was staring passionately at Milton.

"Well, you at least know some of the things Smidge likes, don't you? You're the kind of person who remembers things like that."

"Aw, thank you," she said, grinning at him and kissing him on the cheek. "But I still don't know what to order Milton. So . . ?" Cue the huge smile.

"Ugh! Fine. I'll go ask him." He turned around and started back toward the table.

Poppy's voice called after him: "Thank you! You're great!"

He hated that he couldn't even suppress a single smile at those four insignificant words.

Branch got back to the table and leaned both hands on the side of the table to distract Milton from . . . well, from whatever was going on with Smidge. She was still staring at him, but he had somehow found a balance between discomfort and staring back.

Whatever. The newly-blue-haired teenager got down to business and asked, "So, Milton, Poppy forgot to take your order. What do you want for lunch?"

"Well, I'd prefer something vegetarian, but if you've already ordered something, don't go out of your way to please me."

"We can . . ." Branch trailed off, momentarily distracted by Smidge's unwavering gaze. "We can probably work with that." He shot Milton a smile, then went back to find Poppy. She was waiting around a fast food place, already holding four (?!) milkshakes.

"None of those are for me, are they?" he asked as he approached her. He was half-joking, but he could already taste the excessively sweet drinks and tried not to let his face wrinkle in disgust.

"Um . . . no." She looked down at the four milkshakes and he could see her trying to work out how three people would split four milkshakes without it seeming weird. "This is . . . a backup one."

"If you say so," he said, and kissed her on the cheek. "Um, Milton wanted something vegetarian. That was as specific as he got."

"Okay! Um . . ." She looked around the food court. "I think there are a couple places I could get him food from."

"Good. I can bring the milkshakes back to the table."

"Thanks! Remember not to drink any!"

"Yeah, I don't think I'll forget."

"Just making sure," she said with a grin and a thumbs-up as he started walking away with the milkshakes.

* * *

"So, um, Milton, what are your plans for the summer?" Branch asked. They were finally all seated at the small food-court table after Poppy had, amazingly, run around to a ton of different restaurants and gotten them all food without any help. The issue now was that Smidge was still refusing to say anything to Milton. None of them liked the awkward silence this created, especially with the way she was staring at him. How could she possibly find him _that_ interesting?

"Well, I think I'm going to volunteer at the animal shelter all summer—"

"You're so perfect," cooed Smidge.

"—but what about you?"

"Um . . ." Branch exchanged a glance with Poppy. Would Milton be creeped out by Smidge's comment? By the _nature_ of Smidge's comment?

Poppy gave a good-natured shrug after a moment. Translation: _At least she's talking._

So Branch shifted his attention back to Milton's question. "Uh, I'll probably just work."

"That sounds so _boooooring_, Branch," Poppy groaned playfully. "You could at least say 'summer job.' And no, I will not let you 'just work' all summer. There are _plenty_ of things I could plan for us, and I _will _plan them."

"I guess I'm doing what Poppy plans, then," he told Milton. "What are they?" he asked his girlfriend.

She shrugged. "I dunno. I'll update you as they come up."

"Planless, then. Uh . . . what about you, Smidge?"

Smidge didn't seem to hear him, only continuing to stare at Milton.

"Smidge!" Poppy called, waving her hand in front of Smidge's face. "Smidge, we asked you a question!"

Suddenly, Smidge seemed to snap back to attention. "Oh! What was it?"

"Just wanted to know what your plans were for this summer, that's all," Branch told her.

"Um . . . I'll be helping everyone out with their summer plans this summer!" Smidge announced.

"Wow!" Poppy said. "Really, Smidge? That's a huge project!"

"You must have a lot of energy, Smidge," Milton praised, seeming impressed.

Smidge beamed. "I do. I mean, that's really sweet, Milton. That's the kind of love I want to spread with my project."

"It's so admirable that you're doing this. Can I help?"

"Um . . . yep! Everyone that can should help with this," Smidge told her crush, but she was starting to look—and sound—a little worried.

"Oh! Can we—" Poppy started eagerly.

Branch put a hand over her mouth. "Actually, Poppy, you'll be really busy with all that planning you mentioned, and all those events. How about Smidge can help you out instead? You can be the first part of her project."

"First of all, you mean _us_. I'm not going to just leave you behind while I have all the fun working with Smidge. And second of all, great idea! Smidge, we can be your test subject! You can test out your project with this last week of school before summer vacation!"

"Great! Thanks!" Smidge said, but she sounded strained, and her smile showed it clearly. Why was Branch the only one to notice? Obviously, this was something made up to impress Milton, and she was just now realizing how stupid it'd been. Poppy did not want to get tangled up in that.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, Poppy's phone gave a loud _ding!_ Everyone at their small table looked at her.

"Oops, sorry," she said with a sheepish smile, checking her phone. "Oh! There's gonna be a new student starting at school on Monday!"

"This late in the year?" Branch asked doubtfully.

"It's really cool that you have an alert for that," Milton said at the same time.

"Oh, thanks, Milton," Poppy said, shooting him a brief smile before unlocking her phone and going straight to the school website, it looked like.

Smidge chimed up again. "Well, so do I!" she said eagerly.

Branch bit his lip. How many lies was she going to tell? He knew he shouldn't have been so stressed out by something that barely even affected him, but he was.

Milton seemed to buy it. "That's cool, too, Smidge. Why didn't it go off just now?"

Smidge blushed a little and said, "Um . . . because I left my phone at home! I didn't want to disturb anyone during the movie."

"Well, it was really nice of you to leave it behind, then. It's especially important to have meaningful conversations without phones, with all of today's modern technology."

"That's what I always say!"

Poppy furrowed her brow. "Smidge, one time you got in an argument with Creek that took up the whole lunch period just because—" She put away her phone and looked up, then saw Milton. Forcing a smile, she continued, "Just because he wouldn't appreciate that conversation is more meaningful without cell phones!"

Clearly that was the opposite of what had happened.

"_Yeah_, Poppy," Smidge said pointedly. "I can't believe you dated that jerk for so long."

Poppy's hands curled into fists and she shot her friend a glare. "We never _dated_, Smidge." She sounded genuinely upset. "It was just a little crush, that's all."

"Okay, okay," Smidge said. "A crush, then."

"It wasn't even really a crush, though," Poppy blurted, and now she was bouncing her leg. "Just like, kind of a friend thing."

"Okay . . ." Smidge said skeptically, and raised an eyebrow as though to alert her friend that she didn't believe that at all.

Poppy kept talking. "And we weren't even that close, either. We didn't see each other that often anyway, only sometimes at school and parties. I never even talked to him drunk, so we weren't that close, right?"

"That's because you don't drink." By now Smidge looked a little worried for her.

"Right, yeah. Right." Her leg bounced faster and she seemed to be zoning out.

Branch intervened. "Poppy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great," she said, as though it was an automatic response. She kept staring into space, though, and she didn't look "great."

"No, you're not," he decided, shaking his head, and grabbed her hand to pull her out of her seat. "Let's go outside for a little bit."

"Okay," she agreed, and let him lead her across the food court and out the door they'd come in, just a few lanes of traffic away from the parking garage.

He sat down on the sidewalk, leaning his back against the side of the building. "Sit down."

"Okay," she said again, and sat next to him, still looking dazed and upset.

"Again: are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm—" This time she stopped and leaned into his shoulder, though. "I'm not okay." Her voice was small, as though she was ashamed to say the words.

"Well, obviously. You were really freaking out in there." He shifted a little to put an arm around her.

Her fingers grasped the fabric of the pants he was wearing and she toyed with it a little, still not looking up at him. "Yeah, I guess," she mumbled.

"You _guess_," he deadpanned. "You insisted that you didn't like Creek that much, and then Smidge literally had to remind you that you don't drink, but yeah, there's always the possibility that you weren't freaking out."

Now she looked up at him, a playful smile dancing on her lips. "Okay, well, there _is_. You weren't the one acting like that."

"Sure. But do you agree that you were freaking out."

She sighed. "Okay, fine. Yes."

"Would you care to say why?"

Poppy's hands curled into fists, and she looked incredibly frustrated. "I just . . . can't. I _hate _him, but I can't say that because it just . . . doesn't describe my feelings."

"You don't have to, okay? I understand." Gently, Branch took one of her hands and opened it, then the other. "Don't hurt yourself."

She nodded. "I don't mean to. I'm just frustrated. I hate not being happy. It's so much more fun being happy."

That made Branch laugh a little bit. "Of course. Um . . . do you want to go back inside? Because if not, I'll drive you home now."

"Well . . ." She hesitated, scrunching up her face adorably as she tried to work something out. "Is it mean if I just leave Smidge and Milton now?"

"If Smidge and Milton weren't in there, would you want to go home?"

"Yes," she answered, without a moment's pause.

Branch stood up and offered her a hand up as well. "Then let's go."

"But what about them?"

"It doesn't matter, okay? You're upset and you want to go home, so you're going home. They'll be fine. You can text them about it, and anyway, you wanted them to bond. Leaving them alone will probably help. So come on."

She hesitated again, but eventually reached for his hand and stood up. "Alright, let's go."

As they walked to the car, hand in hand, Branch wondered how he was suddenly so on top of Poppy's emotional issues. He was never this good at handling himself.

So—even though he wasn't planning to admit it to anyone—he came to the conclusion that it was really nice to have friends for once.

**I've been compiling ideas for the next chapter for some time now, so hopefully I can put them into words without taking too long. (Also, I'm sorry if this chapter was a little boring. I had to rethink the second half of it after realizing my original idea didn't really fit.)**


	6. The New Kid

**So . . . I wrote some more of the thing. I introduced an OC in this chapter, and I had a lot of ideas for him, and I thought that I could fit them all in one chapter and as it turns out, I cannot. So here's what I have so far. And thanks to QuickestSecret and Natashia Aisha, who both left me sweet reviews!**

* * *

On Monday morning, Poppy went to school with a skip in her step, because why not? Plus, this was the last week of school, and there was a new kid starting today! And he was in her grade, so they might have some classes together! She always loved the possibility of making a new friend.

She hadn't seen Branch since he'd dropped her back at her house on Saturday, and although they'd texted a couple of times since then, she was glad they would see each other at school today. (Especially because he had so calmly handled her little Creek freak-out.) She would have to plan a lot of events over the summer so that she saw him enough. All her friends, really.

But back to the new student thing! She had to go straight to the office after going to her locker because she had signed up to show new students around the school and help them make friends when she'd started high school. Sunny Willows was a small town, and she'd pretty much forgotten about that responsibility since she'd never been needed. But now she would get the chance!

Just thinking about that made her grin even wider. From the text she'd gotten during the double date, she knew that the new student was male and would be finishing his sophomore year this week, just like her, but other than that she knew nothing about him. No doubt they'd have a lot to talk about!

"Oh look, it's Branch!" she said out loud when she saw her boyfriend walking into the school a little ways away. She ran ahead and gave him a hug from behind.

He jumped and screamed on her impact, then turned and saw her, eyes widening. "Geez, Poppy, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Well, we wouldn't want that, would we? Not when summer break starts next week!" Poppy laughed, her good mood not wavering in the slightest.

"It does. We'll finally be out of this place for ten weeks."

"Oh, it sounds so _short_ when you say it like that," she whined playfully. "But not to worry! I'm not going to even think about the next school year until I'm shopping for it in August!"

"Sounds impossible, but okay," her boyfriend said with a shrug. "I know you're almost always in a good mood, but you seem pretty cheerful for a Monday morning. Or maybe I'm just still thinking of what happened on Saturday, but still. Any reasons why?"

"Okay, well, _one_," she said, grinning at him almost sheepishly for noticing, "I haven't seen you and the rest of my friends all weekend, so now I get to see everyone again! And second, at this time next week we'll all be partying because IT'S SUMMER! And third, I'm showing around that new student today so I get a brand new FRIEND! Life could not be better!" She grabbed his hand and had him spin her around.

He smiled at her (his genuine smiles were the best). "Well, I'm glad you're so happy, then. Is the new kid in any of your classes?"

"I don't know yet! I'll find out when I go to the office to meet him. But he is in our grade, so I'm gonna invite him to sit with us at lunch. Yay, I love making new friends!" She threw her arms around him. "How about we go to our lockers together, and then you can go to class and I'll go meet the new guy, okay?"

Her boyfriend shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Yay!" She pressed her mouth to his, keeping the kiss long and sweet as she ran her hands through his hair. When she pulled back, she said with a grin, "Isn't life great?!"

"Wow, you're in a _really, really_ good mood," he said, grinning back at her.

She grabbed his hand and they went into the school together. "You know what we should do one day? We should just totally skip school and do a bunch of crazy stuff in a remote location! Or we could go to the movies or something, and have some super-elaborate cover story for why we're not in school!"

"What? I'm not doing that," he instantly protested.

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Well I didn't say you _had_ to do it, just that we should. Why not?"

"Because there are compulsory attendance laws and because I have a reputation among the teachers to protect."

"_Oh _my _god_, Branch. I am so offended that you value your teachers more than your own girlfriend!"

"That isn't what I said." Now he was the one rolling his eyes. "If I were to do that, it would be in the last week of senior year. Then the teachers wouldn't be able to judge me for years to come and I would already be accepted into a college, hopefully."

"This is the high school experience, though! It would be so much better for your _soul_ to skip school and have a day of fun than just sit through school like we always do."

"Okay, first of all, you can't really hate school that much with this kind of happiness level on a Monday morning, and second of all, my soul would writhe with guilt for the rest of my life if I did that, so no."

"Oh please, _writhe with guilt_? For the rest of your life? You're so dramatic."

"Look who's talking."

She shot him a playful glare as they stopped in front of his locker.

"Okay, fine. But still, you have to admit that it would be fun!" She tried to stick her face in front of his to convince him with her positively _charming_ smile, bending down with him as he leaned over to access the built-in combination lock.

"Seriously, stop it," he told her, smiling. "Obviously it would be _fun._ You're a really bad influence, you know."

"Why, thank you!" she said, touching a hand to her chest as though she was shocked he would say something so nice. "I've been waiting my whole life to be called a bad influence, and I just can't believe my dreams were fulfilled so soon! I mean, what will I dream about now? A nice job? A nice house? Growing up and starting a family?" She sighed dramatically, shaking her head. "But nothing can ever compare to my lifelong dream of being called a bad influence."

Branch stood up and shut his locker, his backpack gone and replaced with a couple of binders in his arms. "Okay, okay, I get it. Come on, let's go to your locker."

"Well . . . okay," she said, following after him. She'd just opened her mouth to talk when—

"Branch!"

"What?" Branch looked in the direction of the voice calling his name. Poppy saw his eyes meet his teacher's, a male teacher that was standing in the doorway of his classroom.

"Can I talk to you about your paper?" asked the teacher.

He visibly fixed his posture, assuming an even more serious expression. "Oh, yeah, sure. Just give me a second." Poppy felt his lips on hers, a quick peck, before he pulled back with a small smile and said, "I have to go. See you later."

She smiled back at him. "See you later."

Eh, it didn't really matter that she wasn't able to see Branch for the next two minutes. Today was going to be a good day, and she refused to let a slight change of plans ruin that. Once she'd gotten her necessary supplies, she headed toward the office, ready to meet the new kid at school—and make a new friend.

* * *

"You play piano? That's so cool!" she gushed, accompanying her newest classmate through the empty halls. "Oh, look! Here's your locker!" Poppy ran over to the locker with the numbers that matched the copy of Caleb's class schedule that she was given. "Number 184! Okay, I won't look at your combination; you can do that yourself." She covered her eyes and held out the paper in her hand as he opened his locker so he would know she wasn't looking.

"I got it," he said after a moment, and she uncovered her eyes as she heard his locker popping open. It was, of course, empty.

"Ooh, are you gonna decorate it?" Poppy asked enthusiastically.

"Do a lot of people here do that?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. She noticed now how shiny his blond hair was, considering it was reflecting the school lighting right back into her face.

"Yeah, almost all of us! Did you, at your old school?"

"No, not many people did."

"Oh. Well, are you going to here?"

"I might next year, but there's only a week left. The less I have to clean out of my locker in a couple of days, the better."

"I guess that makes sense! I think locker clean-out is on Thursday." As he unpacked his backpack and got some binders out, she added, "Why _did _you decide to come to school so late in the year, anyway?"

"My parents just figured it would be best to go to school for as long as possible. Do you have parents like that?"

"Eh . . . not really," Poppy said after a moment of consideration. "I don't think my dad really cares about my schoolwork as long as I'm happy."

"And your mom?"

"Oh, I don't live with her," she answered nonchalantly. She didn't really remember her mom, so it wasn't too painful to talk about.

"Oh." Caleb seemed surprised, as though everyone he'd ever met had had two parents, and Poppy briefly wondered what sort of neighborhood had only children with two hardworking parents that pushed their children for the very best in school. After a moment she silently concluded she was glad she had the life she had.

"So is it divorce, then?" asked Caleb, zipping up his backpack and shutting it in his locker.

"Um." Poppy hesitated. "I would tell you, but I have some people really close to me who still don't know. They should probably hear it first. You know?" She shot her new classmate a sheepish smile, hoping she wasn't offending him.

"Yeah, I get it. In third grade, I had a friend whose parents were divorced. He wouldn't talk about it for like a year," Caleb said. "He moved away in fifth grade. Too many bullies."

_Yikes!_ was Poppy's first thought. She had never encountered any bullying in her lifetime, unless she counted Branch's general snarkiness from the moment she'd met him, or the recent . . . _things_ . . . that Creek had been doing, but it wasn't exactly the same idea that the word "bullying" brought to mind.

"Oh. Well, you won't find any bullies here! We're a kind of isolated small town—it's not that we don't leave, other people just don't really come here—and we're all super cheerful! Except for a couple of us, but that's okay! You've just got to accept people for who they are, you know?" (Which, admittedly, was easier to understand now that she was dating Branch.) Poppy grinned as she said it, the positivity of the statement lifting her spirits, just a little. But seriously, it was especially important to address the school's general energy with new students, so that they would know they were safe to be themselves.

"That's a nice philosophy," he said, smiling at her kindly. The words could have been condescending, but the way he said them made them anything but.

"Thanks!" She sent her already-wide grin in his direction.

"So . . . where are we going?" They'd been casually strolling down the hallway since he left his locker, but Caleb was the first to address their direction.

"Oh! Uh, what's your first class?" Poppy checked the copy of Caleb's schedule she held in her hand. "You have English first period. Just like me!"

"Do we have the same teacher?"

"Oh, it's a really small school. Everyone has the same teachers for core classes—except there are two P.E. teachers. So yeah, we have it together! We're going in the right direction, too!" She led him forward, then suddenly paused with hints of a frown on her face. "Well, actually, why don't I just give you a tour of the school first so it'll be easier for you to find your way around?

"Sounds good," he said.

"Yay! Let's go back to the front door so we can start there!" She grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him behind her as she got ready to start her tour.

* * *

Branch hadn't seen Poppy since that morning, even though he was supposed to have had two classes with her before now—English and Science, he thought as he grabbed a couple plastic utensils and made his way toward their lunch table. It had been understandable when she'd missed first period, but when she hadn't shown up for fourth he'd gotten kind of worried. Of course, she was at school (it wasn't like there was an actual chance she was going to be kidnapped or whatever) but he couldn't help but imagine the worst.

He smiled, his worry dissolving when he saw her at her normal spot at the table—not sitting, but standing behind it. A blond boy stood next to her, engaging in conversation with her. Branch could only assume it was the new kid she'd been assigning to showing around. Then again, he couldn't even recognize half the people at this tiny school, so honestly it could've just been some kid he'd been in class with since 6th grade or whatever.

Poppy was being over-enthusiastic as she talked to him, so from Branch's distance, her voice was easier to hear. The blond boy said something to her with a smile, and she squealed, grinned wider, and gave him an enthusiastic hug. "I love you!" she said cheerfully.

Branch smiled. It was always nice to see her so happy, but especially now, after what he'd witnessed on Saturday.

The blond boy hugged her back. "I—" he started.

Poppy looked up and saw Branch right then. Her grin never faltered as she ran over to him and suddenly, he was the one receiving a hug. "Yay! Branch! I haven't seen you in forever!"

"You just saw me this morning, Poppy," he said, but he was smiling, attempting to hug her back with the lunch tray in his hand. It wasn't the most endearing hug, but at least he didn't drop his lunch.

She pulled back and shot him an unimpressed look, folding her arms and looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Branch. I missed _two_ of the classes we have together." She raised both of her eyebrows now and held up two fingers in his face. "Two! That's, like, more than half the times we see each other all day!"

"Not all day, just all school day. But yes, you have deeply offended me by missing two of the classes we're in together." He shook his head as though he just couldn't understand why she'd done it, pushing past her to sit down. "I'm just not sure if I'll ever be able to forgive you."

When he looked up at her from his seat, she laughed and playfully shoved him. "Okay, okay, I get it. We'll see each other some other time, probably."

"Um, Poppy—" said the blond boy, who was still standing behind them. He sounded kind of slighted at being forgotten. But that was fair enough, considering he really only knew Poppy so far. "Is this one of your friends?"

"Oh! Sorry, Caleb!" she said, turning around. "Yep, this is Branch! He's my boyfriend and he's great and I love him!" She paused, then turned back around to look at him with a furrowed brow. "We said that in the text I accidentally sent you, right? I don't have to be super dramatic and stressed out 'cause I used the word 'love'? They do that on TV, and it looks super fun, but I'm just not in the mood for it right now."

Branch had to laugh at the fact that she said that without any hints of stress on her face or in her voice. He decided to ignore the part where she said it would be _fun _to be stressed out about that. (?) "No, you don't have to be dramatic and stressed out. I lo—"

She held a finger to his lips, closing her eyes and turning her head away defiantly. "Nope! Don't say it back! Cause then the whole mood will change, and I really just wanna be crazy and impulsive and cheerful right now. Save it for a better time."

"You're a weirdo," Branch said, a little confused but smiling at her overall Poppy-ness.

Poppy stood up again. "Yay, thanks! Here, Caleb, pull up a chair across from Branch. You can probably fit right there."

"Oh, thanks," he said, but he didn't sound like he meant it.

"Um, so who's this?" Branch asked, still a little confused as to who the blond boy—Caleb—was.

"Oops! Branch, this is Caleb, and he's new to our school. I showed him around this morning. The tour was very detailed, so we ended up missing lots of classes."

"Hi, Caleb," Branch said to the boy across the table from him. "I'm Branch, like Poppy said."

Branch didn't think his greeting was super friendly, but Caleb's was barely half as warm. "Her boyfriend, she said?" he asked.

"Uh, yeah," Branch said, glancing at Poppy, who grinned. "Yeah."

"Hi," said Caleb, and from his tone it was clear that was the end of the conversation. Branch glanced at his girlfriend again, but she didn't seem to notice how cold the new boy was being.

Whatever. It was only the first day of knowing him. It wasn't like he knew for sure that this was recurring behavior—and it wasn't like Caleb had done anything wrong, really. And it certainly wasn't like Branch was in a position to get upset because this kid wasn't cheerful enough.

For now, he would let it go.

* * *

Slowly, more of her friends had showed up to their table, and Poppy had made sure to introduce Caleb to every one of them. He was nice to them, but not nearly as cheerful as he had been earlier.

After lunch, she was finally able to return to actually going to class. (Obviously, it had been fun to walk around the empty halls, but she liked spending time with other people, too.) Her fifth period class was P.E., which was the third class of the day she had with Branch.

It became clear when she got to the gym that because it was the last week of school, none of their teachers had prepared a lesson plan. She joined her classmates, who all seemed prepared to sit on the bleachers for 45 minutes.

"This is kinda boring," she said to Branch when he showed up. "Are you bored?"

"Well, I just got here, so no," he said, laughing at her a little, "but I might get bored later."

"So you think I should start a huge group dance? Okay!"

"Wait, what?"

"Branch," she said, shooting him a look. "We've got a whole school gym to ourselves. We learned dances for huge groups like us back in January. We've got 45 minutes on our hands. Why not?"

"I kind of . . . really don't want to do that."

She shrugged. "I never said you had to. You can keep on sitting here and just watch. But it would be really fun if you joined us . . ." She smiled at him and gently traced a heart on the back of his hand.

He pulled his hand away and stared straight down at his feet. "No. I'm not gonna let you change my mind."

She frowned. "So you can't even look at me?"

"Absolutely not. Literally anything you do could get me to do it, and I shouldn't have told you that, why did I tell you that?" he whined, now burying his face in his hands.

Suppressing a smile, she edged closer to him and slowly ran her fingers through his hair. "Come on, Branch, come dance with me," she said calmly.

"Um, no," he said, and got up. "I'm going to the bathroom."

"Let me come!"

He turned around and gave her a funny look. "Um, no. The whole point is to hide from you, you . . . devil of a girlfriend," he said, then continued walking toward the exit.

"That has _got_ to be the best thing you've ever called me," she called after him, grinning.

She'd been expecting him to come back after a couple of minutes, but it seemed he'd been serious about hiding from her. Maybe he had a book or something.

No time to worry about that, though. She had a couple classfuls of students to entertain!

Five minutes later, she'd rounded up everyone in the gym and they were all doing some sort of crazy dance. It wasn't one of the dances they'd learned as part of the curriculum back in January, but it was a lot of fun.

Ten more minutes, and Branch came back to the gym. He looked really tired now—that was weird—and went straight to go sit on the bleachers by himself.

Poppy frowned, broke herself away from the dance, and went to go talk to him. "Are you back to see your devil of a girlfriend?" she asked him, smiling.

He looked up at her and smiled, laughing a little at her reference to his earlier words. "Maybe," he said. "I don't know, the bathroom is more boring than I thought it was."

"What did you expect? Candy machines? Salesmen with cotton candy and popcorn? A faucet with milkshake instead of water—ooh, that needs to happen."

"Well, that would certainly be . . . _interesting_ . . . but I think you're forgetting how I literally vomited on Friday night."

"Right . . . but! Interesting is the opposite of boring, so at least you wouldn't be bored. Wait, what were we talking about?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm back now. I'll just watch you guys dance until the end of the period."

"But I wanna spend _tiiiiiiiiiime_ with you," she whined, grabbing his hand and interlocking their fingers. "I was gone for the first two classes we have together."

He rolled his eyes playfully in her direction. "I told you, we'll see each other after school."

"Yeah, but like, what will we do after school?" she asked with wide eyes, both a silly complaint and a genuine question. "I don't have anything planned. Except my dad's working from home today, so maybe let's not go to my house. Ooh, can I come to the orphanage?"

"Definitely not," he answered immediately.

"Why?"

"'Cause if they find out about you, they will tease me mercilessly. I don't even talk to them, and they will still tease me mercilessly."

"Okay, first of all, what the heck Branch? You don't even talk to them? You live with these people and you _don't even talk to them_?"

"Well, it's not like I chose to live with them—"

"You live in a building full of children and you _don't even talk to them_! I love children! Why can't I live there?"

"Um, 'cause it's an orphanage . . ."

"Yeah, but like, still," she sighed dramatically, and then laughed. "Please take me there. Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, plea—"

"Okay, okay, okay! You can walk home with me, then we're going somewhere else, okay?"

"Yay! Thank you! I love you! I'm going back to dance now! See you later!" She kissed his cheek, then got up and went back to have fun with her friends.

Soon the period was over, and after P.E. she had math, and then chorus. These teachers hadn't really bothered to prepare a lesson either, so she ended up with even more time to hang out with her friends/classmates.

When the bell rang at the end of school and everyone made their way to their lockers, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around.

"Oh, hi, Caleb!" she said, grinning at the new student. "How was the second half of your first day?"

"Um, it went fine. I was wondering—what do you normally do after school?"

"Oh, that depends! Here, walk to my locker with me and I'll tell you."

He smiled. "Okay."

"Sometimes I'll throw a party and invite a ton of people, or sometimes I'll go to the mall with my friends—everyone here goes to the mall in the next town over, because we don't really have one—or sometimes I might just like . . ." She shrugged. "Go see the town. I dunno. We live in such a small town, I know most people, so it's just nice to be around all these nice people. Or sometimes, my dad won't have much work, so I'll just stay home and watch TV and eat cupcakes with him. It's the best. Um, why do you ask?"

"Well, you know, I'm new here, so I was thinking, maybe you could just show me around town? You seem to know the best things to do here."

"Oh, I'd love to, but I'm going to be with Branch. I'm going back to the orphanage where he lives after school, and then we're gonna just . . . I don't know, but something! Maybe you could come with us, though . . ." She contemplated this for a moment.

"Really?" Caleb asked, his face lighting up.

Poppy decided that he was too excited to say no to now. "Yeah, sure! I'll text you when you can meet us. This is my locker, so I'll see you later!"

He waved at her and started walking away. "Bye!"

"Bye!" she said, then focused herself on packing up.

* * *

"It is _really_ not that exciting," Branch said, rolling his eyes a little (but unable to stop smiling) at Poppy's enthusiasm.

"Okay, yes it is. Like, this is where you _live_!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms wide, eyes sparkling with excitement.

"Yeah, believe me, it's not my first choice."

"I never said it was," she said, and now she was the one rolling her eyes. "I'm just excited to see it, that's all."

"Well, okay, but I'm warning you, it's really not that exciting."

"You said that already."

"It's _true_."

The two of them walked in comfortable silence for a while, until Poppy said, "You know what? We have never even been on a date!"

"Well, I mean, we've only been dating—" Branch paused and rethought his word choice. "We've only been together for about a week."

"I know! That's way too long to not have ever been on a date!"

"Well, we could go on one later. Unless you were planning for us to do something else?"

She made a face, and he wondered what could possibly have happened for her to make that face. "We can't. I invited Caleb to come wherever we're going after we stop by the orphanage."

"Why?" He couldn't help thinking that hadn't been the smartest move on her part, but he tried not to sound too judgmental. He just got a weird vibe from their new classmate.

"I dunno. He just came up to me and asked me to show him around the town and introduce him to everything we do here, and I told him we were planning to do something this afternoon, and then I thought, 'well, maybe he can come with us,' and I said it out loud, and then he got super-excited, and then I couldn't say no to him anymore. So . . . yeah." She looked up at him with a wide smile.

"Okay, I guess," Branch agreed hesitantly. _It's only a couple hours_, he reminded himself. "Oh, we're here."

"Hmm," Poppy said, stopping and looking at the building thoughtfully. "Well, the paint color could be brighter, but I guess it's fine."

"Yeah?" he said, side-eyeing her. "You know, I didn't actually bring you here to critique the appearance of the building, contrary to popular belief, so it doesn't matter."

"Are you _insinuating_"—she came closer to him, putting her hand over her heart, mock-offended—"that my opinions don't matter?"

"I'm _insinuating_—no, I'm _stating_—that you could shut up about them and come inside with me like I invited you to do."

She drew back, gasping melodramatically. "_Branch_!" she drawled. "How rude! _I_ invited _myself_."

He shrugged, laughing a little. "That's probably more accurate. But seriously, just come on in."

She gave a small, adorably goofy smile and interlocked their fingers. "I guess so."

Branch pulled a key out of his pocket and unlocked the front door, then led Poppy inside before locking it again. He noticed her watching him intently as he took off his shoes and neatly placed them next to everyone else's. "What?"

She called, "Branch is home!"

He huffed out a wry laugh. "Like anybody cares."

She crossed her arms and shot him a look. "That attitude won't get you anywhere in life, you realize."

"Sure it will," he said. "But feel free to try it your way."

"Thank you. I will," she said, with such overdramatic dignity that he had to laugh. "So where do you live? Like where is your bed, and where do you keep all your stuff?"

"Up here," he said, grabbing her hand again and bringing her up the stairs. "We all have our own rooms, but they're tiny and they have thin walls and yeah. I'll show you mine."

"I mean . . ." she said when she saw it, standing in the doorway and looking around. "It could be worse."

He laughed. "It could be a lot worse. You just don't like my decorating style." He sat cross-legged on his bed, facing her.

"Your 'decorating style'?" she asked with a raised eyebrow, following him into the room. "You don't decorate _at all._"

"Hey, it's still a style."

She just rolled her eyes and sat down next to him. "Yeah, but like, this tells me _nothing_. I want to know more _about_ you, Branch. I want posters on your walls and . . ." She trailed off and, after a moment, said, "Aw, that could've sounded really cool and inspirational-y if I knew what to say."

"You know you're adorable, right?"

She looked over at him with a wide grin. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She edged closer to him, their legs touching and their faces getting closer together. "I thought you said I was annoying."

He gently placed a hand on her back, drawing a little closer. "Oh, believe me, you are."

And next thing he knew, their lips were smashed together, and he lifted Poppy onto his lap, and her hands raced through his hair, and it actually lasted for a while (well, a couple seconds longer than usual) before she placed a hand on his chest, pulled away, and said, "Wait, wait, we should stop. We have to go meet Caleb in a couple minutes."

Branch nodded, moving her back over to his side, smiling as she giggled. "You're right. What time are we supposed to meet him?"

"Oh, well,"—she bit her lip a little sheepishly—"there's no actual time set, so I guess we don't _have_ to go meet him in a couple of minutes, but every minute that passes is another minute that he might be waiting for the invitation, so I just wanna get it over with, kinda. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. Where?"

"Mm . . ." Another sheepish look. "Don't know. There's a community park kinda in the center of town—I mean, you know that already, but maybe we could all meet up there?"

"Okay. Well, let's get going then." He stood up, offering her a hand.

She smiled at him and took it. "Thanks. You have a really good attitude about it. For not knowing and everything."

He just shrugged, not telling her that his bad attitude was just shoved beneath the positive—well, more like _neutral_—facade.

She grinned at him. "All right. Ready to go have fun with Caleb?"

He had to smile, only because hers was so wide. "Sure, I guess."

"Close enough!" And she enthusiastically marched toward the exit of the orphanage.

* * *

"Oh, look! There he is!" Finally Poppy saw her newest friend approaching her across the park. She grinned and waved him over, giving him a friendly hug when he got close enough. He hugged her back, almost seeming surprised when she pulled back.

"Hi, Poppy. It's nice to see you," he said, smiling at her.

"You too! And, of course, Branch is here too," she said, making a dramatic gesture toward her boyfriend and laughing.

"Hi, Caleb," he said, giving a small wave and polite smile.

"Hi, Branch," Caleb replied, returning the polite gestures.

Poppy shot them both looks. "Okay, you guys can do better than that. At least a hello high-five?"

"I guess," Branch said, teasingly giving her the same look back.

At the same time, Caleb said, "Uh . . . sure!"

Poppy watched with satisfaction as the two high-fived awkwardly, each glancing back at her every other second. "Um, nice to meet you, Caleb," Branch said. "Uh, again."

"You too, Branch," replied Caleb.

"That was better," Poppy said, nodding proudly, enjoying the looks on their faces. She laughed. "Okay, okay, Branch, we need to show Caleb around! Where should we start?"

"Well, where's your favorite place?" asked Caleb.

"Aw, no fair! I love all the places!" She laughed. "Maybe I'll just spin around. And then, whatever direction I'm facing, we'll go!" She covered her eyes, thrust her other arm out to the side, and spun around.

Before she was even done, she heard a worried groan sort of sound in a voice that sounded like Branch's, then she felt herself slam into him.

Instantly, she took her hand off her eyes. "Hey, what was that for?" she chastised teasingly.

"You were about to bump into a whole family," he told her, less playful. "Maybe a little less crazy next time?"

"Of course," she said, still smiling. "Um, but you have to move first."

"Oh, yeah, right," he said, as though he'd just remembered. He went back over to stand out of her way, near Caleb.

Poppy closed her eyes again and spun around, this time being a little more careful to stay where she was. After a moment, she stopped, laughed, and opened her eyes. Now Branch and Caleb were on her right, and there was a street lined with houses on her left.

"Welp, let's go!" she said, moving to cross the street that she was facing. "Come on, guys!"

"Um, Poppy, is there _really_ anything interesting in that direction?" Branch called after her, seeming hesitant to follow even as Caleb jogged over. "I mean, it's really just a bunch of houses—"

She rolled her eyes and went over to him, grabbing his wrist and pulling him in the direction she wanted. "That's because you're not _looking_ hard enough." She pointed down the street to one house in particular, one that had an especially old-timey look to it. "Like, over there is Mrs. Luthers' house, and she used to babysit, like, half the kids in our school. She loves it when we stop by, and she usually has a good story to tell us. Or"—growing more excited, she pointed to a different house, a little farther down the street—"that house right there belongs to the Terrell family, who just moved here and is such a sweet family, honestly—their older one, Ava, loves to bake, and she always has brownies or something that she just passes out to anyone, and their toddler, Eli, is just a blessing who always wants to play with everyone, plus he's _so cute_, and their parents are a really cute couple who love any company, and wow, I love those people. And—"

"Okay, Poppy, it's great that you're excited, but I thought we were focused on showing Caleb around?"

She grinned, realizing he was right. "Right! I just really love this town."

He smiled at her. "Yeah, I can tell."

"Okay, okay, we have to actually get to work now! Come on, Caleb, the world awaits us!"

* * *

Branch had to admit, he'd thought this would be a lot more boring than it was. Poppy, along with her enthusiastic energy, kept it from transforming into what he'd thought it would be.

That said, it still wasn't his definition of a fun afternoon.

As it turned out, "showing Caleb around" meant barging into as many houses as would let her in. He understood that it was a small town and these people knew Poppy, but couldn't she develop at least a basic understanding of boundaries? Every time they approached another house, Branch cringed and hoped nobody was home. Unfortunately, that seemed to be a rare situation.

Finally, probably two hours in, they seemed to be taking a break from all the houses and moving on to actual shops and restaurants and other public places, thank goodness. Poppy brought them from the ice cream shop to a pizza place to a clothing store, all of which Branch had been aware of, but never really cared about.

And then, at last, Caleb stopped and said, "I know the sun isn't gonna set until around 8:30, but maybe we should do the second half of the tour another time? I'm getting kind of tired."

"Oh, okay! I want you to be able to remember anything, so if you're tired, you should go home. Where _do _you live, anyway?" She tilted her head in the cutest way, as though it would prompt Caleb to answer the question faster.

The new boy smiled at her. "Um, it's not really near here. I won't make you walk with me. Maybe tomorrow you can walk home with me, though? To see where it is?"

"Sounds great!" She gave him a big hug. "Bye, Caleb!"

"Bye," he said, hugging her for another moment before pulling away and walking out the door.

"Welp, that was fun. And it's only 5:45! What do you wanna do now?"

". . . Maybe some homework?" Branch asked tentatively, already knowing how she would respond to that.

She gave a loud, exaggerated groan, slumping over and shooting him an unimpressed look. "Come _on_, Branch, _homework_? Could you even _get_ any more boring?"

"Yeah, probably."

"Well, I hope I never have to see it," she said, straightening herself and crossing her arms. "I thought we could go to the movies or something, as a kind of first date."

Branch shook his head, but before he could say anything—

"What? But earlier you offered to if Caleb wasn't coming over!"

"Okay, first of all, that's a little specific, given I didn't exactly offer to 'go to the movies.'"

"Seriously?"

"And _second of all_, while we were walking around, I remembered someplace that I think would be nice to take you out on a date. So, I'll take you some other time. Sound good?"

She gave him a long look. "Ugh, okay, fine. But what do we do now?"

"I already told you. Homework."

"Something more exciting than homework. Besides, it's the last week of school. How do you even have any homework?"

"I take a journalism class, remember? They want me to watch a news clip and fill out this sheet they gave us."

"You should drop out of that class. Who gives homework on the last week of school?"

"I think it's a little bit late to be dropping out, Poppy."

She sighed. "I guess. Maybe we could go to my house and you could do your homework while I scrapbook? Oh, and we can invite some friends over so that we can have a homework/craft party!"

"How do you focus on homework during a _party_? No, don't answer that. You can invite your friends over, but I'm not coming."

"_Nooooo_, Branch!" Poppy whined. "Please come over?"

"No, I've already socialized way past my limit today."

She crossed her arms. "Fine. But I _will_ see you tomorrow, okay?"

He gave her a funny look. "Yeah, I will. At school."

"Good. Here, I have to give you a hug before you leave."

Branch nodded and hugged her back as she leapt into him, causing him to stagger backwards a little and laugh. "See you, okay, Poppy?"

"See you!" she said, pulling back with a smile and taking off in the direction of her house.

Once she was out of his sight, Branch went back to the orphanage, trying not to think about the teasing he'd endure after bringing Poppy over earlier in the afternoon. He just needed to focus on getting his work done.

What he hadn't told Poppy is that technically, the work wasn't mandatory; it was just extra credit. But their final grades were going into the gradebook tomorrow, and he still had an A- in his journalism class. Maybe that was a good grade, and it probably shouldn't have bothered him, but it did.

As soon as he got back, he took off his shoes, placing them neatly in their spot, and went upstairs. Unfortunately (but predictably), two little girls came by and immediately started teasing him.

"Were you out with your _girlfriend_?" they singsonged, giggling.

"Who?" he asked, feigning confusion as he headed up the stairs. Hopefully he could pull off this charade at least long enough to get to his room.

"The _fancy_ one," said one girl. (Which Branch had to roll his eyes at; he wouldn't exactly use that word to describe Poppy.)

"Yeah, with the pink hair!" said the other.

Coming closer to his room, where he could lock them out if they had any more nosy questions, he ventured, "Yeah? And you've come to the conclusion that she's my girlfriend why?"

"'Cause we saw you guys _kissing_!" they sang together, bursting into giggles once more.

That turned Branch's irritation into anger—anger at himself, for not being careful and even for letting Poppy come over in the first place, anger at the idiot who'd built this place as if children didn't need privacy and thicker walls and better locks, and anger at the girls for the clear breach of his privacy. He turned to face them.

"Do you have _any_ understanding of something called 'boundaries'? _At all!?_" With that, he turned back around and went to his stupid room that might as well have been a common room.

Once there, he sighed, trying to cool down. He still had homework to do, and now he was angry and tired as well . . . Maybe he shouldn't have gone with Poppy and Caleb. It had been boring enough, and besides, as much as he'd tried to ignore it, Caleb had occasionally been sending him irritated looks behind Poppy's back. As much as he didn't like the new boy, he couldn't help but wonder what he possibly could've done to cause this.

He also really needed to do his homework so he could raise his grade, last-minute. But, of course, he was finding it pretty hard to focus now.

Great.

* * *

**I'm gonna start working on the next part now, but yeah, I have learned to not promise anything** **ever.**


	7. School's Almost Out!

**Hey guys! Sorry this story takes so long to update! I'm trying to work on managing time better in quarantine, but it's hard with all my teachers over-assigning work. **

**Al Kaz: Thanks! I'm really glad you like it so far! **

**YP Wingsen: Oh, hi! :D It makes me really happy to know you're enjoying this! Thanks for leaving such a nice review!**

* * *

"Okay, you guys can't tell anyone, okay?"

Smidge and Poppy, both grinning, eagerly nodded their heads.

"I kinda . . . a little bit . . . sort of . . ." Suki started, blushing.

"What? WHAT?" Smidge roared, grabbing her friend by the shoulders and shaking her.

"Smidge, stop! We'll never find out if you scramble her brains!" Poppy said.

"Mmm . . . I guess," Smidge said, side-eyeing Suki as she released her from the strong grasp. "BUT YOU HAVE TO TELL US WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

"I kind of have a . . . well, a sort of a crush on . . . _Guy Diamond_." His name left her lips quickly, as though she was hoping she'd prevent them from hearing it.

Smidge and Poppy turned to each other, grinned, and squealed. "WOO-HOO! MY SHIP!" Smidge shouted.

"Smidge, the whole town can hear you!" Suki said. She already looked a little regretful.

"WHO CARES? I'M SO EXCITED! SUKI LOVES GU-UY, SUKI LOVES GU-UY!"

"Poppy, make her stop!"

Poppy grabbed her fangirling friend in a hug. "Smidge, it won't happen naturally if we just _tell_ Guy! We have to let nature work its magic!"

"My brain knows you're right but my heart says I need to scream!" she yelled, but not as ear-splittingly loudly as before.

"Smidge, it's really not a big deal," Suki said. "It's just a little crush, that's all."

"But it could be so much more!" Smidge protested, finally seeming a little calmer. "Imagine: you and Guy and me and Milton and Poppy and Branch all on dates together, or you and Guy getting married, and having children, and they would be so CUTE, and—"

"Stop it! We're only high schoolers!" Their orange-haired friend grabbed a pillow and hit Smidge in the face with it.

"Are you girls doing okay? I heard some shouting."

The three girls looked up to see Peppy at the bottom of the stairs, wearing a slightly concerned expression. Poppy jumped up to go give him a hug.

"Yep, everything's fine, Dad! We're just really excited!"

"Oh good, I'm glad—"

He was interrupted by the sound of two voices from upstairs calling, "The pizza's here!"

"Great! I'm super hungry," Suki said. She jumped up and headed toward the staircase, Smidge following closely behind.

"Awesome!" Poppy called up the stairs. "Thanks, Dad!" She gave her father another big hug and went upstairs to meet Satin and Chenille in the dining room.

Once they were all seated at the dining table, and Peppy was back in his office, Poppy said, "So . . . Satin, Chenille . . . Suki has some big news that you missed while you were up here . . ."

"What? We leave you alone for five minutes and you tell each other all your deepest secrets?" Satin said.

"Shut up, Satin, I want to hear the news!" Chenille lifted her hand and covered her sister's mouth.

"Tell them, tell them!" Smidge was grinning.

"Okay, okay!" Suki said, lowering her voice. "All I told them was that I sorta have a little crush on Guy."

The twins locked eyes, smiles growing on both of their faces. "Guy? Like, our _friend_ Guy?" Chenille asked.

With a red face, Suki nodded.

"Like, Guy _Diamond_, our friend?" Satin asked.

"Yeah . . ."

"I KNOW ISN'T IT THE CUTEST THING EVER?" Smidge yelled.

"Deep breaths, Smidge! We gotta let nature do its thing!" Poppy said.

"But she's right, it's adorable!" Satin said. "Is that why you wanted to meet up, Suki? To tell us that?"

"Mm-hmm," their friend said shyly, nodding.

Smidge was still bouncing impatiently in her seat. "Can't we just call Guy up and tell him?"

"No! Smidge, you cannot do that!" Suki yelled.

"But whyyyy? Guy and I hang out all the time anyway, so it wouldn't be weird for me to call him!"

"Because—because that's an invasion of privacy!"

"Ooh, I have an idea!" Chenille said. "What if we played that game where you spin a spinner and whoever it lands on has to call their crush and confess?"

Her sister shot her a look. "You know it'd just be Smidge and Suki, right?"

"Exactly!"

"Wait! We should wait for Harper to get here, in case she wants to play too!" Poppy said. "I mean, if you guys wanna do it."

Smidge nodded, narrowing her eyes at Suki. "Oh, it's on."

"Suki?" Poppy asked.

"I mean, I'd _love_ to see Smidge confessing to Milton."

"Okay! I'll go get some sort of spinner, and you guys wait for Harper!" With that, she left the table.

Five minutes later, Smidge and Suki sat in Poppy's living room with the spinner between them. Their phones were on the floor in front of them, and Poppy, Satin, and Chenille sat off to the side, just waiting for the game to start. Luckily, that was when the doorbell rang.

"Ooh, it must be Harper!" Satin said, standing up to answer the door, and, in the process, dragging her sister after her.

"_Saaaaatiiiiiin_!" Chenille whined, trying to get to her feet.

They opened the door, and there was Harper. "Hi guys!"

"Hi, Harper!" they all chimed.

"Harper, you're just in time for our game!" Poppy called. "We're gonna see if the spinner lands on Smidge or Suki, and whoever it lands on has to call their crush and confess."

"Oh, cool. Suki, you're finally admitting your crush on Guy?"

"I . . . Um, yeah . . ." Suki's face was bright red.

"Awesome! And you two are the only ones playing?"

Poppy nodded. "The rest of us have no one to confess to. Do you wanna play?"

Harper smiled a little as she came over and sat down with them. "Well, I don't really have a _crush_, per se . . . but that new guy you were showing around, Poppy . . . he's pretty cute. I guess I wouldn't mind asking him out."

"Oh yeah, Caleb! Sit down, then!" Poppy was as enthusiastic as ever as she patted the carpet. Suki and Smidge, meanwhile, moved over so Harper had an equal chance of being targeted.

"Alright, alright. I'm recording! Spin!" Poppy said a minute later, watching as Suki took a deep breath and set the spinner in motion.

The anticipation building up, they all leaned in, waiting for the moment when the spinner would finally stop . . .

Harper groaned. "Ugh, I guess I'm calling Caleb now!"

"Yay!" they all cheered. Suki and Smidge both looked thrilled that they hadn't been chosen, but simultaneously a little upset; they'd each wanted it to land on the other.

"Okay, okay." Harper got out her phone. "Wait, I don't have his phone number."

"Oh, I do!" Poppy said. After giving her the number, they all crowded around as Harper dialed it and put him on speakerphone.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Oh, hi, Caleb!" Harper said, her face already bright red. "I'm a girl from Sunny Willows High School. My name's Harper. Um, you met my friend Poppy yesterday?"

"Um, yeah. Why are you calling me?"

"Well, I just . . ." She giggled nervously. "Um, I just wanted to say that, um, you're pretty cute, and I wanted to ask you if you'd go out with me, I guess?"

"Oh . . . I'm not . . . I'm not really—wait, are you with your friends?"

"Ye-yeah?"

"Hi, Caleb!" they all chorused.

"Hi, Poppy," he said.

"Wow, your voice recognition game is impressive," Poppy said.

"You talk a lot," he responded casually. "So, Harper, you were asking me out?"

"I guess I was, yeah," she said quietly.

"Okay, I'll go out with you. We can text about the details later."

"Okay! Um, I guess I'll see you over text later?"

"See you." With that, he hung up.

"Um . . ." Harper looked at the phone in her hand, then at her friends. "What just happened?"

"He agreed to go out with you, that's what happened! Why aren't you excited?" Chenille said, grinning.

"'Cause, I dunno, he was kinda cold . . ."

"Well, no worries! That's 'cause he doesn't know you well yet! But if you go on a date, you'll definitely click, and he'll love you! How could he not?" Poppy said, smiling.

"Yeah, exactly!" Suki said, giving Harper a hug, without leaving her spot beside the spinner.

"Thanks, guys."

"Wait, the whole purpose of this game was to call Guy or Milton, right?" Satin said. "I still wanna see if it'll land on Suki or Smidge!"

"Are you guys up for another round?" asked Poppy.

"I am," Smidge said with a shrug.

"Same," Suki said, looking Smidge directly in the eyes.

"Okay, I'll take another video! Now, spin the spinner!" Poppy said, eyes on her friends.

This time, it landed on . . .

"Suki!"

"Noooooo," whined the talented DJ. "I have to call Guy now?"

"Those are the _ru-ules_!" singsonged Smidge, jumping to her feet. "Call him! Call him! Call him!" she chanted.

"Call him! Call him! Call him! Call him!" the rest of them chorused, smiling.

"Okay, okay! Fine!" Suki took a deep breath, fumbling with the phone in her hands, and put Guy Diamond on speakerphone.

"Hi, Suki!" he said, as soon as he picked up. "I thought you were with our friends?"

"Yeah, and we were just playing a game, actually. And the spinner landed on me, and—and so—"

"Huh?"

"Just tell him!" Poppy whispered, making playful shooing motions at her friend.

She took a deep breath. "I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me?"

"Oh! Like on a date?"

"Yeah, exactly."

"That'd be so much fun! Okay! When?"

"Oh! I'm not sure. Maybe we could work that out later?"

"Yeah! Call me back when you're ready! Bye!" He hung up.

Suki stared at her phone for a couple minutes before looking up at her friends. "Did—did you guys see that?"

"Of course we did!" Satin and Chenille were the first to pounce on Suki in a hug, followed by Poppy, Harper, and then Smidge. "You were so brave!" Chenille said.

"Right? And he WANTS TO GO OUT WITH YOU!" Poppy exclaimed.

"IT'S SO EXCITING!" squealed Smidge. "Poppy, you took a video, right?"

"Yep!"

"SEND IT TO ME!"

"Okay, okay! I'll send it to all of you, how about that?"

"I DON'T CARE! I JUST NEED IT NOW!"

"Uh . . . sent!" Poppy declared triumphantly as soon as she pressed the send button, then squinted at her phone screen and frowned. "Wait, that's the _big_ group chat. Oh, well."

"Poppy!" chastised DJ, swatting at her friend's arm. "You sent the video to Guy!" But she was smiling, and she really didn't seem too angry.

"You're welcome," Poppy singsonged, making a teasing face at her friend.

Suki shot her a look, but still clearly wasn't upset.

"Okay, okay, let's stop talking about crushes and stuff." Satin reached for her purse. "I brought brownie mix!"

Chenille glared at her sister and grabbed the box out of her hand. "_We_, Satin. _We_ brought brownie mix."

"That's so nice, you guys! C'mon, everyone, let's go make them!" Poppy hopped up from the floor, practically sprinting to the kitchen.

* * *

The next day at school, Branch was really tired, and, as a result, also pretty disoriented. He hadn't been able to sleep very well, sick with anxiety about all the possible rumors about him that were probably circulating. In efforts to distract himself, he'd attempted to focus on homework, tried to read his science textbook like a novel, and watched the two videos of Harper and Suki that Poppy had (for some reason) sent him—on repeat. He could probably recite them word-for-word by now.

Still, he'd barely gotten any sleep. He didn't even know how much, because it had come in short intervals.

"Hey, Branch!" He didn't have time to process the sound of Poppy's voice before she leaped onto his back in a huge hug.

He yelped, jumping a little, unprepared for her antics. "Poppy!"

"Yup, that's me!" she said. "How are you today?"

"Tired," he grunted, straightening his back so she had to let go.

"Aww, poor baby." She tapped his nose lightly, giggling.

Before she could make any more commentary on that, he asked, "How are you?"

"I'm absolutely _wonderful_, thank you!" She grinned. "I made brownies with some of our friends last night. Oh, hey, do you want some?"

"No thanks," he said, holding up a hand to stop her from opening her backpack in the middle of the hallway.

She shot him a hesitant look, obviously debating whether she should give some to him anyway, but then seemed to remember what'd happened on their field trip and nodded. "Welp, okay. Do you wanna hang out after school? I don't have anything to do."

"You can't go home and just, like, relax? By yourself?"

"I mean, I _could_." She looked like she didn't know why he would ask her that. "But where's the fun in that?"

Branch shook his head, unsure how to explain to her the best parts of being alone and not having to talk to people all the time. Then again, he hadn't had a lot of fun staying home by himself the day before, so . . . "Yeah, sure, let's hang out later."

He'd much rather be around Poppy than the people he lived with. He could use the distraction.

* * *

"Suki. _Psst._ Suki." Poppy poked her friend in the back. "What'd you and Guy text about last night?"

"Poppy, I already told you, we didn't text each other last night." The young DJ didn't turn around. Their history teacher would definitely notice if she did that.

Poppy poked her again. "Quit lying to me."

"I'm not lying!"

"Yes you are. You bite your bottom lip when you lie."

"You can't see my face!"

"I know! That's how I can tell you're doing it! 'Cause otherwise you'd turn around!"

"The only reason I'm not turning around is because if I did, everyone would know we're not paying attention!"

"Suki, we've been friends since first grade. At least just tell me you don't wanna talk about it."

Suki sighed. "I'll tell you about it, just not during class."

"You know Guy sits with us at lunch."

"I know. I can screenshot the texts and send them to you, or something."

"Thank you Suki! I love you!"

"Love you too, Pops. Now let me study for our test tomorrow, please."

"Gotcha!"

A couple hours later, Poppy stood at the end of Harper's usual lunch table, arms crossed.

"Poppy, I can't come sit with you." Harper was whispering, hiding her head in her hands.

"Come on. Why not?"

"Caleb hates me."

The pink-haired girl scoffed. "No, he doesn't."

"He does, though. Didn't you hear him on the phone?"

"I did hear him on the phone, and he does not hate you. Besides, you're really going to avoid him until you have to go on a date, just the two of you alone? It's better to break the ice while the rest of us are around to keep it from getting too awkward."

"But . . ."

"You don't know what's going to happen yet, Harper. So take a deep breath and come over there and have fun with us!"

Harper took the instructed deep breath, stood up, and followed her friend over to their lunch table.

"You can sit right there, Harper. Caleb sits across from Branch, so you should be at the optimal conversation position if you're there." Poppy brought a chair up to the end of the table for her friend, then sat down at her own spot.

"Oh, hey, Caleb! You're here early!"

The new boy smiled warmly at her. "Yeah, I know you can't really be 'late' to lunch, but I'd like to make a good impression in my first week here."

"Well, let me introduce you to my friend Harper! You know, the one who asked you out on a date!" Poppy made jazz hands at Harper.

Caleb smiled awkwardly at Harper. "Um, hi. So you're the girl I met on the phone?"

She smiled awkwardly back. "Um, yep! So, uh, you're new. Where are you from?"

"Um, across the country. I went to the Academy for Young Geniuses. They, uh, liked to hold high expectations for their students, which is why it was named that way." He glanced at Poppy. "It was a private school."

"Oh, cool," Harper said, flashing another awkward smile. "Was it nice there?"

"Yeah, it was always so clean there. And the teachers really pushed you to go above and beyond in your studies. I mean, there were a lot of bullies, but whatever."

"That's . . . that's too bad. Did you, um, get bullied?"

Caleb shrugged passively. "Nah."

Just then, Branch sat down next to Poppy, looking angry. He was biting his lip, hard, and his fists were clenched.

"Whoa, Branch, what's wrong?" Poppy asked, looking at her boyfriend with concern in her eyes.

He took a deep breath before answering. "We have a test in history class tomorrow? The day before the entire school year ends?" Obviously, he was trying not to yell.

"Yeah, it's too bad. Especially since he didn't tell us about it before."

"Ugh! I don't have the time for this!" He practically collapsed, resting his head down on the table.

"Maybe you should try and get more sleep tonight."

"Thanks, Poppy," he said sarcastically, not looking up. "I'll keep that in mind next time I literally cannot get my body to sleep."

She put her hand on the back of his head and fidgeted with his hair between her fingers as she looked up at the twins coming to the table. "Hey, guys! How's your day been?"

"Pretty good!" Satin said, smiling.

At the same time, Chenille said, "Bad. I'm going to fail the history test tomorrow!"

"See? I'm not stressing out for no reason!" Branch said, without lifting his head from the table.

"Aww, I'm sorry, Chenille. But I doubt it'll be that hard."

"But I already threw away all my notes!"

"Can't you just use Satin's?"

"I don't have any," Satin said proudly. "I'm very smart on my own."

"Satin!" Chenille put down her lunch just to smack her sister. "I'm smart too!"

"You guys are both smart! Don't worry about the test tomorrow. You'll do great, and even if you don't, I'm pretty sure the gradebook closed last week. I don't know for sure, but I think this test is just to see how well he's been teaching this past year."

Still not looking up, Branch said, "Yeah, or our teacher is just being a—" He cut himself off, took a deep breath, and then continued with gritted teeth, "_a really annoying person_."

"I promise you, he's not trying to stress you guys out on purpose. He just wants some feedback. Now, what's something _good_ that's happened today so far?"

Smidge seemed to pop up out of nowhere just then. "SUKI AND GUY ARE DATING!"

"See, Smidge gets it! Positive attitudes are—OH MY GOSH THEY'RE HOLDING HANDS!"  
"I TOLD YOU!"

"This is so exciting! Branch, aren't you excited?"

"Ow! Did you get your fingers stuck in my hair?" Branch asked as Poppy yanked his head up from the table.

"Oh no! I'm sorry!" She gently pulled her fingers out of his hair and kissed his nose. "But do you see them?"

"We can hear everything you're saying, guys," Suki said, sitting down at the table as Guy did the same.

"Aw, no! Keep holding hands!" Smidge said.

"Smidge, are you saying you'd rather let us _starve_"—he enunciated the word—"than see us stop holding hands?"

Smidge nodded.

Guy gasped dramatically. "I cannot _believe_ that my own _friends _don't care about my health!"

"Aww, don't worry, Guy! You'll still have one hand left over." Poppy giggled and stood up, grabbing one of each of their hands and connecting them across the table. "Perfect."

Suki laughed. "Um, this is a little uncomfortable—"

"Silence, peasant!" Smidge hit her on the head with a fish stick. "You guys are too cute to protest."

"You know who you're cute with, Smidge," Suki said. "_Milton_."

Smidge gasped and slapped her hand over her friend's mouth. "_He might hear you_," she hissed.

"So what if he hears her?" Branch asked. "All she said is that you're cute together, not that you like him."

"Y'know, Branch has a point," Poppy said. "And then maybe it'd plant the idea in his head, and he'd think, 'Maybe Smidge and I _would_ be cute together,' and then he'd fall in love with you, and you'd start hanging out more and more, and then one day he'd kiss you, and then you would kiss him back and then you would run away to get married secretly in the forest, but I'd follow you and take a video and upload it to YouTube and you'd be married and I'd be famous and it would all end well!"

"How would that get you famous—"

"Shh, Branch. Don't criticize my imagination."

"O-okay."

Smidge gasped, taking her hand off Suki's mouth. "Yes! Make that happen! Do whatever you have to do! I don't care!"

"I've got you," Satin said. "Just leave it to me."

"I don't know what you have planned, but you have to let me know how it goes, okay?" Poppy said.

"Of course we will," Chenille said. Satin glared at her, but didn't say anything.

* * *

"Oh, hey, Branch! Chenille just sent me this video!"

"What's it of?"

"Let's see! I think it's the Smidge-Milton thing!" She opened the video to see Satin, who was writing on a small scrap of paper, and Chenille's voice saying, "They're gonna try and get their note read out loud in front of the class. Satin, show the camera what you wrote."

The note said, _Smidge, I think you should date Milton. You two would be so cute together._

"Okay, okay, now you have to be super obnoxious about passing it to her," said Chenille.

"I know what I'm doing, Chenille, it was my plan," said Satin, sounding annoyed. She then turned around, to her other side, and tapped one of their classmates on the shoulder. Loudly, she whispered, "Pass this to Smidge."

He nodded and passed it to the person in front of him, who passed it to the person in front of her, who passed it to Smidge. Smidge opened it and shot Satin a confused look.

Satin gestured for her to pass it back.

"I told you to be more obnoxious than that!"

"It wasn't my fault, Chenille."

The note then successfully made it back to the twins. "I guess I'll pass it back to her?"

The camera flipped and Chenille said, "It's never gonna get intercepted," before ending the video.

"Oh," Poppy said. "We'll have to think of something else, I guess."

"I really just said that at lunch to get you guys to stop complaining. It's not a big deal."

Poppy just shrugged. "I mean, it's not really something we have to worry about right now, exactly. I'm bored, what do you wanna do?"

"I wouldn't mind taking a nap."

"How about we watch TV instead?"

"Okay."

"Yay! Here, choose something!" She practically threw the remote at him. "I'm gonna go get some ice cream!"

It must've been hours later that Peppy came home, but to Branch it felt like mere minutes. He jumped in his seat when he heard the door behind him being unlocked, while Poppy scrambled off the couch to give her father a hug the moment he walked in the door.

"Oh, hi, Poppy!" The mayor chuckled as his daughter latched onto him. "How was your day?"

"It was great! It's the last week of school, so I just get to talk all day! Yay! And me and Branch have been watching TV since we got home!" She leaned backwards over the edge of the couch, wiggling back into her seat from upside down like some sort of slug.

"Hi, Branch. I didn't notice you there!" Peppy said, smiling down at his daughter's boyfriend.

"Uh, hi," he responded awkwardly, but Peppy didn't seem to notice. It was no secret where Poppy's cheerful, inclusive demeanor had come from.

"So, Poppy, I was thinking we could make pizza for dinner tonight," said Poppy's father, taking off his suit and heading to the kitchen. "What do you think?"

"That sounds perfect, Dad!" Poppy called to him.

Belatedly, Branch realized that if they were making dinner, he would have to leave—who was he to intrude on their family life? With the realization, though, came a sinking feeling that he felt deep in his chest. He'd enjoyed the temporary distraction from life at the orphanage, but it was over now.

He reached over to give Poppy a goodbye hug, practically crushing her with his weight, desperately trying to use her embrace as an instant fix for all his childhood problems. But as much as he hoped for it, it was impossible, and he found himself masking behind playfulness as he said, "Ugh, if only I didn't have to go home," and rolling his eyes to go along with the act.

She stopped hugging him when he said that, staring at him with wide, innocent eyes. "Well, who said that?"

He looked at her strangely. "What?"

"No one told you to leave, silly! Stay for dinner! Make pizza with us!"  
Feeling awkward and already wishing he'd never mentioned it, Branch stammered, "No, I—this is your family, I—I shouldn't—and I have to study—y'know, for that stupid test tomorrow—"

"Making pizza is literally _so_ fun," she enthused, eyes lighting up in the way that only hers could. "I promise! C'mon, you have to stay!" When a moment of grinning at him didn't work, she switched tactics and turned her sad puppy face on him.

"I . . . I guess I could stay a little longer . . . if it's okay with your dad . . ."

"HEY, DAD!" Poppy practically screamed. "CAN BRANCH STAY FOR DINNER?"

"Sure! Sounds fun!" Peppy replied, at a much more reasonable volume.

Branch bit his lip, still uncomfortable, but unable to do anything about it at this point. Besides, even if he could, what would he do? Go back to the orphanage? No, thanks.

"Why don't you two take the ingredients out of the fridge while I change into more comfortable clothes?" Peppy peeked into the living room from the kitchen.

Poppy shot her father two thumbs-ups. "Perfect! Branch, come on!" In a second, she was up from the couch and dragging Branch by the arm to the kitchen.

"Here's a pizza dough for you"—she threw a bag of dough at him before he'd even had time to process the fact that he was in the kitchen now— "and here's some for me, and some for Dad . . ." Luckily, she kept those in her own arms instead of throwing them blindly at the counter. "Hey, Branch, will you get out some flour?"

"Uh, sure. Where is it?"

"Above the coffeemaker," she told him, and he set down his pizza dough to open the cabinet. After a moment of searching, he realized he couldn't find the flour.

"Um, Poppy, are you sure it's in there—" The second he turned around, a plume of flour dusted his face and chest.

He wiped his eyes and saw Poppy standing there, white-powdered fingers extended towards him, a grin on her face.

"Poppy!" he chastised her, and she burst into laughter. "Give me that—" He reached for the bag of flour, but she managed to dodge him—effectively spilling flour all over the floor.

Seeing the mess, she only laughed harder, and this time didn't try as hard to get away when Branch reached for the flour.

"Okay, you're going to regret that," he said, grabbing a handful of flour and dropping it over her head.

"BRANCH!" she shrieked (which Branch thought was a little dramatic) and now she was the one lunging for him. Branch teasingly grinned and lifted the bag above his head, standing on his tiptoes.

"Stop that!" she said, giggling, as she tried to get it back by jumping up and down and standing on her tiptoes as well. But unfortunately for her, it just so happened that Branch was taller. He laughed as she tried to get up on the counter behind him by throwing her arms around his neck and hoisting herself up.

"What are you even doing—ack, Poppy!" He laughed again, her grip tickling him. "If you spill all the flour, we can't make pizza!"

"But I want to throw it in your face—_Da-ad!_" she whined, noticing her father walking into the kitchen. "Branch won't let me have the flour!"

"And I don't regret it," he said, hopping up onto the counter and placing it on the highest shelf. "Given what you've already done." He gestured to the mess of white powder all over the kitchen floor.

"I am _not_ the only one who spilled flour," she said pointedly. "You can't just dump a fistful of flour on someone's head and expect the floor to stay clean!"

"_That's_ different. _That_ was retaliation," he retorted, making eye contact with her as he brushed flour off his shirt.

"We can tackle the cleaning issue later," said Peppy. "Why don't we just make pizza right now?"

"Fine by me," said his daughter, holding pointed eye contact with her boyfriend as though he had disagreed.

"Shut up," he murmured in response, playfully shoving her.

"I didn't say anything," she said smugly, taking the pizza sauce and cheese out of the fridge and bringing them to the dining room table.

That evening ended up being a lot more fun than Branch had originally thought. Then, given that he'd imagined stomaching awkward conversation with Peppy, sending fleeting, help-me glances at Poppy, and staring down at the table more often than not, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise.

But _God_, had it been good.

The three of them had talked, and laughed, and just had fun. Even after dinner, when they turned their attention to cleaning, there had still been an atmosphere of playfulness, and general joy. Branch doubted he'd felt that good since his parents died back in second grade.

And for three blissful hours, he'd been allowed to forget that any of it ever happened.

Now, as he stood on the porch with Poppy, he realized that it was over. He would have to go back to the orphanage, where the only time anyone cared about him was when he was in trouble, or when there were rumors being spread about him. And—lucky him—there were.

"Anyway, do you want me to walk you home?" Poppy was saying. "I wouldn't mind. It's a nice night. Like, look at all the stars!" She looked at the night sky and grinned, as though in that moment, there was nothing better than seeing the stars.

Branch smiled at this. She'd love their first date.

She turned her gaze back on him. "So, what do you think? Want me to walk you home?"

_Yes_, he wanted to say. _Don't leave me_. But the last thing he wanted was something happening to her because he'd let her walk back to her house by herself at night, so he just mustered a small smile and shook his head. "No thanks. I'm good."

"Are you _sure_?" she asked, snaking her arms around his neck and touching noses with him. "I don't want you to be lonely."

"You're sweet, Poppy," he said, kissing her, long and sweet, before pulling away. "But I promise, I'll be fine."

The kiss must've satisfied her, because she beamed at him, practically glowing, and said, "Okay. See you at school tomorrow. I love you."

"I love you too, Poppy," he said, smiling back at her as he left her house.

If only he could stay there forever, but he knew life never worked out like that.

* * *

**Sorry not sorry for torturing Branch the Cinnamon Roll. :D Hopefully you guys can forgive me. No worries, though, next chapter will be much more lighthearted! See you then!**


End file.
